Pepper Makes Me Sneeze
by twilightmask
Summary: Mr. Stark has the sniffles and sneezes. A certain PA has to become a mother/nurse/assistant/friend for him. Can more than medicine and coughs come from these two? Fluffy sweetness? You bet. Comments are appreciated and welcomed! Movieverse.
1. Morning Sickness

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN/HAVE CREATED THESE CHARACTERS OR ANY AFFILIATED CHARACTERS. But the storyline's mine so yea, NO STEALIE. x]**

**Pepper Makes Me Sneeze**

It was an agreeable morning. The curtains were swished wide open, and the sun was bursting through the floor to ceiling windows. The sunlight touched every corner of the Malibu house. The dust in the air was revealed in the sudden outburst of light and seemed to reflect the laziness that still resided in the room. Pepper had walked in rather quickly, and failed to notice the bright disposition of the house. She had a laptop under her arm, mouth biting on a few papers, her other hand checking through her Blackberry, and under another arm was an all too familiar briefcase filled with more papers. She sprawled them out on a couch, sighed, pulled back her hair, and proceeded to try to multi-task with all of the work. Jarvis noted,

"Do you need help, Ms. Potts?" She waved a hand,

"Oh, no thank you, Jarvis…though…" She paused, listening. Pepper sighed,

"Could you wake up Tony?" Knowing him, he probably would've been blasting hard rock, but the morning was quiet.

"As you wish." Jarvis responded, before going to get Tony up. His electronic voice came through the speakers in Tony's darkened room,

"Mr. Stark, are you…?"

"ATCHOOOO!!" Pepper shot up from her seat on the couch, clearly taken by surprise. She stepped out into the hallway and called up the stairway,

"Mr. Stark?" She heard a muffled and congested voice reply,

"Mmm?" The frazzled assistant quickly climbed up the steps and into her boss's room. She yanked open the curtains to let light in. A bleary eyed Tony pulled the covers on his bed over his head and groaned,

"Close the curtains, Pepper…" She put her hands on her hips,

"Oh please, it's ten in the morning. You have a lot of meetings today. And…" Tony sneezed loudly once again. Pepper cocked her head, changing her mood instantly,

"Are-are you okay, Mr. Stark?" She went around to the other side of the bed, and lifted the top cover slightly. He sniffled a little bit. Her hand flew to her mouth,

"Oh my gosh, you look horrible!" Tony laughed hoarsely,

"Well, that's comforting." She bit her lip, before dashing to the medical cabinet. The bottles made clinking noises, as she pushed and shoved them, looking for pain relievers and coughing syrup. Tony groaned, as he struggled to prop himself up for the medicine that she was about to force him to take. She placed an array of different remedies on the night table. Tony raised an eyebrow.

"I have to take all of these?" She was breathing heavily,

"Yes." He coughed a bit,

"I'm not going to remember to take all of these." Pepper exhaled slowly,

"Don't worry, I'll remind you." He made a face,

"I still don't wanna take 'em. Plus, I hate grape." She shook her head, so he couldn't see her smiling a little. She took out a metal spoon and filled it with the first gooey liquid,

"Bottoms up." She consoled Tony. He opened his mouth reluctantly, and Pepper thrust the spoon into it. This was done for another three times with three other medicines. Tony made fake gagging noises,

"Don't complain. You've probably had it worse." She muttered while tightening the cap on some Tylenol; he could act like such a child. His personal assistant handed him a couple of cough drops, and he took them. Now finished, she took out some papers from her briefcase,

"Here, Mr. Stark, you just have to validate…" He sneezed all over the papers. Disgusted, she jumped back,

"Oh, Tony! I can't give infected papers to the board members!" Her boss sniffled,

"Ugh, sorry." She tried to give him a comforting look,

"Um, well, never mind then. If you're going to keep sneezing, I might as well take this away." She gingerly picked up the papers and stuffed them back in the briefcase. Quickly, she whipped out Purell and rubbed it generously all over her hands. Tony smirked,

"You're always such a neat freak and a hygienist." She gave Tony a look,

"Well, I don't want to get sick. I don't know what you'd do without me if I became sick." Tony looked at her,

"I guess you got a point there." She smiled a little triumphantly, remembering this little talk before. She began to head back down the stairs.

"Hey, you're not leaving your gravely-ill yet undeniably good-looking boss here to wither from his sickness, are you Ms. Potts?" Tony called out. She popped her head back in through the doorway, smiling deviously,

"Wouldn't even think of it." Before disappearing back downstairs. He grinned himself, feeling a little lighter. Her Blackberry had been ringing constantly, as she had expected. She picked it up and answered nearly six calls at once. Tony heard bits and pieces of conversations from his room,

"Oh yes…no I'm sorry, sir, he's ill right now…I'm afraid that's canceled…yes you too…no ma'am I wasn't talking to you…uh huh…" He felt a little pity towards his hard working assistant.

"Jarvis?" He called out once again.

"Yes, sir?" Jarvis replied. Tony asked,

"Can you shut off Pepper's phone and reply to all of those annoying old people for her?" He made a few noises,

"Already on it, sir." Pepper screeched. He braced himself. She stomped upstairs,

"Mr. Stark, why is my phone dead?" She fumed. He merely grinned,

"I'm giving you a little break, that's all. You needed it." The on edge woman crossed her arms in front of her,

"Well, thanks for asking me first." She sarcastically grumbled. Tony rubbed his temples,

"Pepper, sometimes I think if **I **weren't around, you'd kill yourself with all this work unknowingly." She didn't seem to care. A little ticked off; she stuck a thermometer in his mouth and placed a hand on his head. Her cold hand was a relief to his hot head. She pulled back and sighed.

"You really are sick." She commented a little unhappily. Tony still managed to speak with the thermometer in his mouth,

"Yea, well what's the matter with that?" Pepper frowned, closing his mouth with her slender fingertips,

"Everything. You know, you did have an important meeting today with your stock market team. And there were a whole bunch of meetings planned with the board, your technician group and marketing assistants. **And**…" Her boss cut her off, opening his mouth again,

"Pepper…don't sweat it. I **am **a superhero you know." Her lips tightened, as she drew back her hand,

"No you aren't." He grinned a little,

"Yes I am, and you know you love to worry over me." His dark eyebrows wiggled a little. She shifted the weight of her body onto another foot, as she began penciling in things in a small, black planning book, ignoring her childish boss for a second. Her teeth chewed on the end of her pen every once and a while as she thought. Tony shot from his bed suddenly and grabbed the book and pen from her. Pepper screamed, surprised, before looking quite upset once again.

"Mr. Stark, give me that back." She coldly snapped. He smiled largely once again. He always loved to get her angry like this. Her hair all in a mess, cheeks burning red. He coolly responded,

"No." Her unspeakable frustration shot at him through her hard, yet wonderfully beautiful grey-blue eyes that matched her swirling, different emotions. Her hands went on her hips once again,

"And give me a legitimate reason why not." He grinned almost annoyingly once again,

"'Cause I'm your boss, Ms. Potts." The color of her hair began to match the color of her cheeks.

"Well…" She started off huffily but didn't manage to finish her sentence. Pepper just blinked a few times, before leaving, turning on the heel of her foot, defeated. Tony kept grinning happily to himself.

"Sir, that seems to be the source of Ms. Potts' anger." He replied to Jarvis,

"Oh yes, I've noticed." He could've sworn he heard his AI sigh.

AN: Short little intro. *DRUMROLL* :D lol. Yep, I write a whole buncha stories for a whole buncha different topics. Total fluff and sweetness along the way, so try to hold your sweet tooth back. ;]


	2. Dr Pepper?

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NOR HAVE CREATED THESE CHARACTERS OR ANY AFFILIATED CHARACTERS. They belong to Marvel, while the storyline belongs to meh. :D**

Downstairs, Pepper had cooled down herself. She had begun to rummage through the kitchen, banging pots and pans together unconsciously, as she looked. Tony was a particularly…different…sometimes vulgar or immature man, but he always showed signs of control and care around her and others. She smiled thoughtfully, wondering if perhaps that trait came from his mother or father. Jarvis spoke up, awakening her from her thoughts,

"Are you looking for something, Ms. Potts?" Pepper threw a glance over her shoulder,

"Oh, yes. Just a small soup pot would do."

"Bottom left." Jarvis told her. She retrieved the pot and began opening a soup can. Pepper poured the goopy, chunky soup into the pot and flipped on the stove. Rhythmically, she began to stir it slowly with a wooden spoon. The healthy, spiced smell emerged almost immediately and began to waft throughout the house. Tony, upstairs, sniffed and asked Jarvis,

"What's Pepper making?" He replied,

"Soup, Mr. Stark." Tony grinned and shook his head,

"Y'know, soup's not the only thing that could help me get better." He noted. Jarvis questioned,

"Would you like me to tell Ms. Potts that?"

"Yes, please." Pepper cut off Jarvis before he could tell her,

"I heard, Jarvis. I'll talk to Mr. Stark later." She smiled quietly before pouring the soup out from the pot to a small bowl. Gingerly, she picked it up along with a spoon and deftly brought it up to his bedside without spilling a drop. The second Tony had it in his hands though, he yelped in pain.

"Ouch, it's hot!" He yelled, and spilled it all over his bed. Again, he howled in burning pain and jumped out of the bed. Pepper held back her laughs, knowing that the situation at hand was actually a bit more serious. He blinked a few times and looked to Pepper for her reaction. Her face was covered by her hand, and she shook her head a few times. He grinned sheepishly,

"I…will take a shower now." She revealed the small smile that sat upon her beautiful lips.

"That would be a good idea." Pepper commented playfully. He smiled. That look on her face only made her even lovelier. Tony scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment and walked into his bathroom, shutting the door. She sighed and looked at the mess.

"Would you like me to tell you where the cleaning tools are located, Ms. Potts?" Jarvis politely questioned. Her fingers ran through her reddish orange colored hair, and she exhaled slowly,

"That…would be delightful, Jarvis." She managed to reply.

"The fifth closet to your right down the hallway to your left as you exit Mr. Stark's bedroom." He responded. Pepper forced a smile onto her face and went down the hallway to retrieve a little carpet soap and a dirty cloth or two. She soon lost count of the closets, becoming confused between which were rooms and closets. She bit her lower lip. _Now what number was I on…? The right or left…? _Pepper opened the closet door closest to her. The musty and dusty smell of the room made her stumble a bit. She made a face. Tony always managed to shove unwanted things in unwanted places. He was sort of like a young adolescent who didn't want to clean up his messes. Of course, he had a "maid" slash "PA" to take care of him. She shook her head. Sometimes she thought she was acting as more of a motherly figure than a real personal assistant. Her fingers found a light switch on the left side, and she flicked on a few lights. It revealed long metal shelves filled with all sorts of knick knacks and covered up pictures and heirlooms. There were thick, canvas-colored sheets covering nearly everything. Jarvis' voice box and video camera didn't seem to be located in the room either. She glanced behind her, before delving into the small, yet stuffed room. She lifted one canvas sheet, and it revealed a large portrait picture of the full Stark family. His mother was situated to the right, his father standing up behind her, and the little Tony Stark sitting in the center. They had eternal, almost wistful smiles painted onto their faces. The painting had been apparently slashed with several sharp objects. A little disturbed, Pepper moved on to pulling the whole, heavy sheet off the shelf. The dust was thrown into the air and hung suspended in the intensity of the moment. She fingered a beautiful pink pearled necklace adorned with little, sparkling diamonds in between. Her eyes widened slightly. Knowing Tony, he probably would've sold something like this on EBay by now, so this surprised her. It was probably more important than she was crediting it for. She heard a sigh from behind her. Caught off guard, she gasped, and tried to hide the necklace. Tony didn't look upset though, he looked…almost…sad…?

"Out of all the closets, eh?" He questioned a little softly, his body resting on the doorframe. A towel was draped around his neck, and his floppy, wet hair stuck to his forehead. She began to stutter,

"Mr. Stark…I…I…" She placed the necklace back in its niche and lowered her eyes,

"I suppose all I can say…is I'm sorry." He glanced up at her with weary, tired-evident eyes. A sad smile crossed his face; he placed a hand on her shoulder. The guilt Pepper felt nearly overwhelmed her.

"It's okay, Pep." She shook her head,

"No, it's not. I'm terribly sorry. I'm…I suppose snooping is the right word for what I'm doing." She responded sorrowfully. Tony laughed,

"The one thing you never do Pepper is be obnoxious or nosy. Curious, sometimes, but never are you a snooper." Her face reddened. There was a silence. Not an awkward silence, just a silence. He pushed past her slightly and looked at the various things that adorned the shelves. His eyes reflected different memories and emotions washing over him, as he laid his eyes upon different things. He picked up the necklace that Pepper had retrieved and looked at it for a little bit. Pepper, still feeling quite embarrassed and uncomfortable, offered,

"I can leave the room if you want, Mr. Stark." He looked over at her,

"No, that's alright. Here's you can look at these too." She hesitated and shook her head,

"It's…not my place to…" Tony pulled her over and silenced her with a look.

"You're not only my PA Pepper, you're a friend." She blinked in disbelief at what she was hearing. Tony then looked away, leaving her stunned. Pepper was still getting used to this new Tony. Half of her didn't believe what he was saying and thought that it was merely because they were in this sad, memory filled room. The other half thought that perhaps a different side of Tony was being revealed. And Pepper liked this other side. Well, she had always thought Tony was an interesting character, but seeing him almost near tears made her feel…different… Not that she liked seeing him cry, but it meant that he was changing; something inside of him was changing. He handed her the necklace again, and she was once again pulled into the loveliness of it. Tony smiled a small, invisible smile before speaking,

"Y'know, it was my mother's." He responded nonchalantly. She nearly dropped it. She stuttered,

"Oh, well…then maybe you should…take it back." She thrust it back into his hands. His eyes were sparkling, as he laughed again,

"It's okay, Pepper. You're being too polite." She bit her lip, before lowering her eyes back to the small trinket in her hands. Tony's eyes swept over the dusty and forgotten memories that he had locked away in the closet. Pepper fidgeted and began to back out of the closet space.

"I…really think I should go and clean up the mess." Tony didn't seem to hear her. His mind was completely absorbed into everything around him. He made a sound from the back of his throat. Concerned, the female touched his shoulder lightly,

"Are…you okay?" He coughed,

"Yea, I'm fine. I think it was just my cough acting up." He muttered. Pepper nodded,

"It's about time for the next dosage then." Tony began to walk quickly back to the bedroom. Before he was out of Pepper's voice range, she managed to state,

"You must have wonderful parents and wonderful family…" He stopped shortly. She continued hesitantly,

"Because, I mean, you all look incredibly happy in the pictures…and…they really raised you well…" Although she couldn't see it, she could sense the small smile that formed on his lips. Tony responded,

"Well, I'm not a really good role model for anyone, but I agree with the first part of that statement." She breathed with relief and smiled hopefully. Pepper closed the door and followed Tony. He stopped abruptly at another closet door. He then opened it and picked up a few cloths and buckets. Pepper took a few of them from his hands. She glanced up at him slightly, and he was smiling. She smiled once again back at him. Once they were in his bedroom, they began to "mop" up the mess into the buckets, carry them down to the kitchen, throw them out in the trashcans, and repeat the process. As they went about the cleaning business, Tony struck up another conversation,

"Y'know…those pearls actually compliment your hair a bit." She blushed,

"No they don't, Tony. You're just saying that." He shook his head, as he picked up another bucket,

"No, no I'm serious. You have that sort of strawberry-blonde kind of hair." The sides of her lips turned up, in slight embarrassment of these compliments.

"Why, thank you." She managed to murmur. He smirked, having cornered her into another blushing-mode once again. When they had finished cleaning up the room the best they could, Pepper and Tony hauled the blankets into a large laundry basket. The assistant wiped her brow and said,

"Well, I suppose I should take these to the dry-cleaners then." Her boss made a face,

"Couldn't you do it tomorrow?" She looked over at him,

"Why wouldn't I do it today?" He made another face,

"I dunno…I just…" He pursed his lips, in a thinking state. Pepper smiled knowingly,

"Oh, I get it. You'll get lonely." Tony stepped back a bit at her playful comment,

"Ms. Potts, how dare you suggest such a thing?" He played along mockingly. She laughed, and her laugh tinkled throughout the house, bringing smiles onto Tony's face once again. He commented a little more seriously,

"You have a really amusing laugh." She tried to stop giggling, although the suppressions didn't help much.

"N-no I don't…" Pepper replied between laughs. Her boss had another funny grin on his face,

"Yes, you do, and I must say it makes you all the more adorably cute." She grinned at him, wiping her eyes,

"Why thank you, Mr. Stark." Pepper sighed once again, as she looked at the sheets though,

"I'm really just afraid it might attract animals or smell or something." Tony raised his head slightly and said in the most serious voice possible,

"Ms. Potts you are not to leave this household while your boss is still…still…" His nose twitched as he sneezed,

"ACHOO!!!" She giggled once again and pulled out some Kleenex. He thanked her before he blew his nose,

"Dank oo." It came out muffled and congested. He made a loud snorting, almost similar to a horn. Pepper doubled over, as she tried to suppress herself once more,

"Oh Tony, stop it!" He grinned himself, as he wiped his nose and threw the dirty tissue into the trash.

"Stop what? I'm just clearing up my sinuses." She shook her smile covered face and pulled her boss back into his bedroom. He groaned,

"I've never ever been sick in my life…and so far it's beginning to suck more than I thought it would …" Pepper rolled her eyes,

"Tony, being sick isn't a freebie for getting out of work. Being sick means actually being sick. You know, infected with something?" His eyebrows wiggled again,

"You sure about that, Potts?" She glanced at him uneasily,

"You better not be 'pretending' to be sick." He raised his hands in his defense,

"Hey, you took the temperature and everything. I promise, I'm legit sick." She smiled, as he tried settling down under new sheets. He sniffled again.

"I guess it's nice that there aren't any people trying to hunt me down, calling me constantly, and leaving email after email at work." Pepper pulled her hair into a neat ponytail once again,

"You think you have it rough?" She questioned mockingly. Tony grinned,

"Well, that's what you signed up for, Potts. Although I must say you're doing an incredible job, and for that, I'm thankful I have you." She colored slightly,

"It's really nothing." Pepper mumbled. The sick boss rolled his eyes,

"It is, and I'm thanking you, Pepper!" She smiled thankfully. He continued,

"Besides, I bet your Blackberry won't even be able to hold the amount of voicemails and texts you're getting right now." She groaned,

"Oh, that's right. You killed my Blackberry…"

"Correction. I shut off your Blackberry….I didn't kill it." Pepper glanced at him,

"Well, you might as well have." He smirked funnily once again. Pepper's slender hands pushed Tony gently onto his pillow.

"Now get some rest. That's the number one rule when you're sick." He groaned,

"Aw, seriously?" She gave a small half smile,

"Yes, seriously. Your body needs to recuperate from the sickness." Tony commented back,

"Well, your body needs to recuperate from work. You better not run off to the offices while I'm sleeping." The small woman smiled,

"Are you still ordering me to stay here?" Tony nodded,

"Yep, and you are gonna stay put."

"Wow, Mr. Stark. This is like the vacation I never had." She meant it playfully, but Tony went from amused to concerned,

"Why? Do you need a vacation? I can arrange one. How about…" She put a finger to his lips and shook her head,

"No, it's fine…I was just kidding, Tony. You're speaking too much. Go to sleep." He struggled to prop himself up again, but she gently pushed him right back down.

"I'm serious, Tony. You need your rest, so you can recover quickly." He blinked a few times, before obeying his PA and yawning.

"Alright, guess I won't try arguing with your maternal attitude you've got going on right now." She flashed a small smile,

"Good choice."

AN: WOOO MORE FLUFF AND STUFF. :D lol. This was actually meant to be a oneshot, but let's call it a longish oneshot that will end soon. ;]


	3. Sun Dates

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN/HAVE MADE IRON MAN OR ANY AFFILIATED CHARACTERS. They belong to Marvel and Marvel alone. Story belongs to me.**

The sound of happy snoring drifted from his bedroom and into the rest of the house, as he slept. Pepper smiled unconsciously to herself, while tapping away at a laptop that she had hidden from Tony. Jarvis reminded her a little loudly,

"Ms. Potts, Mr. Stark has given me clear orders to keep you from working. He sincerely wants…" Pepper sighed and saved a few files before shutting off the laptop.

"Yes, I know Jarvis. You don't need to remind me." Pepper tried to occupy herself by sorting out the different magazines on the table. She tried three different ways before realizing that she was going to go completely crazy. She begged Jarvis,

"Please, Jarvis! Can I at least go outside if I can't work? He won't even know I'm gone. I'll bring back some food or something for him." He replied stiffly,

"Ms. Potts, I cannot let you do that." Knowing that she was probably going to work a little bit out of the house anyways, she gave up. She let out a huge breath of air, running her fingers through her hair. She supposed that it was because he was trying to keep her relaxed, but this was far from relaxing. The AI piped up again,

"Although Ms. Potts. I can allow you to walk outside until you reach the gates. Further than that, and I shall tell Mr. Stark." Pepper mumbled to herself,

"And I'll be in deep trouble." She went for the door and began strapping her shoes on,

"If he wakes up, tell him I'm outside like you said I could." Jarvis responded,

"As you wish, Ms. Potts." She opened the door widely, and the warm sun greeted her with comforting rays. Pepper breathed in the outside air and made her way down the long walkway, enjoying the sea breeze and the calm setting. Inside, Tony shot up, as he heard the door slam shut. He asked Jarvis, with slight worry and anger lining his tone,

"Where did she go? I thought I told you that she couldn't leave the house." Jarvis replied,

"Yes, but she's not leaving the house's premises." Tony growled and snapped at him,

"Why do you have to be such a…never mind." He changed as quickly as he possibly could and charged out the door. If Jarvis could laugh, he would've. The sight of him was comical. Hair flapping, shirt buttoned incorrectly, shoes untied…the only thing stable on his body were his pants, and that was completely necessary around Pepper. Pepper heard a faint voice yell,

"Pepper!" She inhaled sharply, and braced herself. She turned around and was immediately nearly knocked over by her boss.

"Whoa!" She screamed, until she realized that he was hugging her, extremely tightly for that matter. Pepper struggled to breathe,

"Tony…I can't really breathe…" He let go, panting profusely. She raised an eyebrow,

"Tony, what was that for? You nearly killed me." Tony instantly forgot most of his anger and began to smirk a little bit. He replied,

"I nearly had a heart attack knowing that my PA had distinctly disobeyed my commands." She put her hands on her hips, and that made Tony grin all the more. The, still shaken, woman wittily replied,

"Well, the only person who would have _**that**_ much control over me would be a husband or boyfriend sort of a figure." Tony smirked at her reasoning.

"Really, Pepper? Did you have anyone in mind?" She sort of tossed her head in the wind and hid her smiles,

"No, not in particular." Tony took this as a little opportunity to make her blush again,

"Really, Ms. Potts? I would figure he'd be super good looking, have a super personality, have a super life…in fact…hmm…aren't those people called superheroes?" She blushed just like he thought she would. She shoved him slightly,

"Well, I don't know if I'm in to those types." He wiggled his eyebrows all too familiarly,

"I guess we'll just have to find out." Pepper held her head high,

"I guess we shall." She began to continue walking; he followed her like a little puppy. Pepper took another glance at him over her shoulder and began to recognize his messy outlook. She stopped him with a finger on his chest. He furrowed his eyebrows,

"What?" Pepper began to unbutton his shirt before clearly stating,

"Don't get too excited." Tony couldn't help but grin. She buttoned his shirt properly and whipped out a comb from her pocket. Her fast fingers fixed his hair. She quickly tied his shoes with the same speed before brushing off invisible dust from his shoulders and smiling at him slightly. He smirked,

"What was that for?" She felt the corners of her lips turn up,

"OCD." He smiled, before saying,

"Y'know, Pep…" She raised a charismatic eyebrow at her nickname. Tony continued without a second glance,

"If you really wanted to go out somewhere, we could arrange that." She shook her head,

"No, that's okay. I wasn't really thinking of going anywhere anyways. I just feel awkward not working at this time in the day." He shrugged,

"Well, you're technically working." She looked at him in disbelief and replied a little sarcastically,

"Oh really? My Blackberry's down, Jarvis made me stop using my laptop…" Tony shook his head and cut her off,

"Tsk, tsk, using your laptop for work while I was sleeping. I can't trust you, Pepper." He flashed a quick grin. She felt her face get a little hot.

"Besides, Pepper. You're technically taking care of me…"

"Which is a job all in itself." Pepper finished. The dark haired man grinned,

"Exactly." She smiled to herself, as they walked further and further down the hill. Tony proposed the little dinner break again,

"But in all seriousness, Ms. Potts, I'm sincerely, actually, technically…"

"Asking me out on a date…correct?" Her response surprised him. He saw her thin lips curving into a tiny smile before he too began to smirk,

"Sure, shall we call it that?" The woman next to him glanced up at him with glistening eyes filled with mischief,

"Even though it's supposed to be the other way around?" Tony bridled,

"What do you mean? No way! I'm sure plenty of guys ask girls out." Pepper giggled and slightly pushed him on the shoulder closest to her,

"Yes, and I'm sure that they were just as 'direct' and 'smooth' as you were." Tony mocked anger at her sarcastic words,

"Hmph, I think you would be _**grateful**_ that I'm coming down to your level to ask you on a dinner break." Pepper shot back,

"Really? Thank you, but I'm thinking about declining…" She was only kidding, but Tony immediately went serious once again,

"But why? I could wear a suit if that's the problem…" Her laughter filled the air along with the crashing of the waves along the rocky coastline,

"There's no problem, Mr. Stark, but I think you'll have to persuade me better than that." Tony grumbled,

"Hey, I thought I was doing a pretty good job." She shook her head, in all smiles,

"Nope, I'm going to need more than that." A thinking look arose onto her boss's face,

"Hmm, well, we could go wherever you want." Pepper studied her fingernails, pretending to be un-amused and unimpressed. Tony continued,

"And, I think I basically owe you this in place of that party thing a while back." Pepper felt her heart sink at the memory. She didn't particularly like the topic. Especially since… Tony coughed, half in response to the silence, half because of his sickness. She sort of played with her fingers,

"Well that's not particularly necessary, Tony." Her voice was quieted and lined with bits of remorseful remembrance. Tony heard the slight tone in her statement and tried to lighten the mood.

"Well _**that**_, and I think I still owe you a kiss from that night as well, Ms. Potts." She instantly turned as bright reddish-orange as her hair.

"No, that isn't necessary either." He grinned,

"We'll see." She glanced away, keeping her eyes down, knowing that she'd blush even more the second she saw his wholesome grin. He asked her,

"Have I convinced you yet?" Pepper laughed,

"All you've made me do, Mr. Stark is blush and feel extremely embarrassed."

"Yep, that's what I was goin' for." She smiled sincerely at him,

"You know what? I think I'll take up that offer." He raised an eyebrow and replied,

"Oh really? Why the sudden change of heart, Pep?" She glanced over at him,

"Don't call me, Pep. And it's because I believe you've tried so hard that if I were to turn you down now…" Tony cut her off, and jokingly stated,

"Heh, I get it. Okay, okay, think what you want, and I'll think what I want." Pepper added,

"Well, I don't believe you'd stop bothering me if I turned you down anyways." That funny grin appeared on his face again,

"I guess we both figured that the same." She matter-of-factly responded,

"I guess so." They reached the gate all too quickly. The sun was lower in the sky than expected, and the warm hued colors accentuated the thin woman standing in front of him all too much more. The sunlight washing over her small frame, every piece of smooth hair clearly visible, and her eyes… He wanted to hold her, and touch her face. He wanted to tell her how wonderful she looked. He stood there, a bit dazed, and took in the perfect moment wishing he had a camera in hand. Pepper gave him a funny look,

"What are you staring at?" She cautiously questioned him. He shook his head slightly and quickly caught up to her,

"Nothing, nothing. I just thought the sun was really…um, nice…today…" She gave a small laugh,

"The sun is the same thing everyday, Tony." His dark hair fluttered in the sudden strong breeze,

"Well, I guess this is the first time I've really looked at it…and saw how beautiful it was…" Their eyes locked and for a moment, each person knew what the other was thinking. His darker eyes just as soft as her light, blue ones. Pepper looked away, and Tony almost literally felt his heart ache at the removal. She spoke a little softly with little ice lining her voice,

"I wonder why it took so long to notice it. It's always been there." His lungs felt like they were just rocks in his chest. He couldn't breathe, and he couldn't respond. Pepper walked past him and straight back to the house. She could almost feel his shock but didn't say a word. As she walked faster and faster away from him, Tony felt the sun's warm rays slipping away from him, falling over the rocky seaside and into the swirling, deep sea below.

AN: Ooh, I can just feel the epic coldness at the end of this chapter. I hope you guys can too! Yea, sorry this ends on a sour note, but no worries! Tony's got a plan to change Pepper's mind, don't forget. They still have that date...;)


	4. Winning Pepper Over

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAH...blah...blah...there. :D**

He turned slowly and began to follow Pepper's tracks at a sluggish pace. Tony felt his heavy heart nearly fall into the pit of his stomach, and his feet dragged ever so slightly. Suddenly, he took a sharp breath in and shook out his hands, as he exhaled. He wasn't going to let this get to him. He knew what he wanted and loved, and he was going to get it. That was the plan…not a very well-thought out plan for the moment, but he was hoping he could improvise along the way. He hadn't meant to hurt her in any way, but perhaps being a guy could have its faults and shortcomings. However, Mr. Anthony Stark was determined to find a way to win over Pepper's heart and solve those broken emotions. He ran up the hill and raced past his PA. She gave him a funny look but said nothing. As soon as he was in the house, he asked Jarvis,

"Okay, favorite restaurant?"

"Excuse me, Mr. Stark?" Tony impatiently replied to the confused AI,

"_**Pepper's.**_" Jarvis responded,

"Well, Mr. Stark, I'd highly advise you do not…"

"Damn it, Jarvis, just tell me! I didn't ask for your opinion!" The AI paused before giving in,

"Bertolli's Plaza." Inwardly, he tried to remember if she had ever told him she had liked Italian food. He moved on,

"Flowers?"

"Gerberas." He made a face,

"Ger-what…? Ah, never mind." He wrote down the weird flower name alongside the restaurant.

"Any sweets or things like that?"

"She likes jelly candies." He nodded,

"Does she like chocolate?" Hoping it would be a little simpler.

"No, she absolutely hates them." His eyes widened, but he said nothing. He muttered to himself,

"No wonder she always turned down the chocolates around Valentine's Day…" Jarvis interrupted his thoughts,

"Ms. Potts will be at the door in five…four…" Tony ran up the stairs and into his small office with the computer in it. He quickly began typing away, stopping every once and a while to change what he had written previously. Pepper walked into the house, sensing more tension than she had expected. She opened her mouth to ask Jarvis, but she closed it, figuring it would be better if she didn't say a thing. Her ears picked up a faint "achoo" in the distance, and she sighed. She jogged up the stairs and fetched the medicine again,

"Mr. Stark?" She knocked lightly on the door,

"May I come in to give you your medicine?" Tony bit his lip at her sudden professional nature. He cleared his throat and walked up to the door. He opened it slightly so as to prevent her from seeing what he was planning. She handed him the bottles, slightly confused and interested in what the secrecy was about, but she said nothing and walked off stiffly. She began putting on her coat and strapping on her shoes,

"Ms. Potts? Where are you going?" Jarvis asked her suddenly. Surprised, Pepper responded hesitantly,

"Oh…just…somewhere." Jarvis made a few beeping noises. She raised an eyebrow. The AI replied,

"Okay, but there apparently is a board meeting that is scheduled for today at six in the evening." The woman paused, and a confused look washed over her,

"But, I thought you canceled all meetings."

"Yes, but this one is extremely important, Ms. Potts. I took the liberty of keeping it for the company's sake." She exhaled slowly,

"Okay, fine then. Where is it?"

"It will not be necessary to have the address. Mr. Stark will be taking the both of you to the meeting." She was beginning to feel very suspicious about Jarvis' sudden behavior about this. Nevertheless, she opened the door and told Jarvis,

"Then tell him to pick me up at least fifteen minutes early, so we get there on time. I'll be at my home." Jarvis shut the door. She gasped before turning annoyed,

"Jarvis…" She warned him. There was no response. Pepper fumed, as she took a seat on the couch. Tony peeked at her from the stairway. She was all curled up, with her knees to her chest, arms crossed, and a cute pout on her face. He slipped back into his room, smiling,

"Thank you, Jarvis."

"It was simply what you ordered, Mr. Stark." Tony shut off the computer and finally took the medicines. He gulped down some cough medicine, and asked,

"Can you do one more thing Jarvis?"

"Yes?"

"Can you frame this picture?" He held up a small little picture,

"Y'know, like in a necklace of some sort or something?" Jarvis located the picture in his files,

"Okay, Mr. Stark." He confidently smiled and walked out of the small office space. Pepper's sharp ears heard the door close, and she straightened herself out, trying to look as professional as possible. She asked him a bit monotonously,

"Where's the meeting being held?" He replied with a bit of knowingness about his tone, just enough to make her wonder,

"Well, it's not being held at the office. I don't know why. I suppose the setting is better away from there. Plus, Jarvis did mention that the hands of the corporations are at stake."

"Are we meeting with Pear Inc?"

"Nope."

"Tech Corps?"

"Sheesh, no." Pepper made a face,

"Why, what's wrong with Tech Corps?" Tony rolled his eyes up to the ceiling,

"Nah, never mind. But it's not any of those companies." He felt a foolish grin coming on, but he didn't want her to catch on to anything. She put her hands on her hips and turned towards him this time,

"No, please. I insist. Enlighten me." Her boss felt the sarcasm, yet underlying interest in her voice. He answered it to the best of his abilities without giving away much information,

"Well, he's a really important guy." She raised an eyebrow,

"Really? That's helpful." He continued without stopping,

"And if he isn't interested in continuing the business with us, then we're completely done for." Her eyes narrowed,

"What do you mean? There's no company like that." He felt relieved that he wasn't facing towards her because he couldn't suppress the smirk on his face,

"He's not…well…you'll find out. Besides, I wouldn't like to keep you from working any longer, Ms. Potts. I mean, if that's what you wishing for earlier, I guess I can't stop you." She was slightly taken aback, knowing that he was being this way because of her. Pepper wasn't a terribly proud person, but she didn't necessarily want to fall helplessly into his arms begging for forgiveness…like he probably wanted. She held her head high and began to play along with the little game.

"Right, as I said earlier, that authority belongs to some sort of boyfriend figure."

"Hm, do you have anyone in mind?"

"As I stated earlier, I do not, but I'd rather not venture into my social status." Tony himself grew to enjoy the small banter, hoping that it was chipping away at Pepper's sudden defenses,

"Your social status is clearly visible to me, Ms. Potts. I don't think that's the problem at hand though." She took a little breath in,

"Yes, obviously, the problem at hand is whether or not I leave to go work, and I think I've made my decision." He coughed very loudly purposely,

"Really?" He managed to ask her between coughs. His eyes caught her shoulders stiffening, and his eyes dimly shined with mischief. Pepper felt the deep-down feeling that she couldn't leave him. Reluctant, she glanced behind her back at him. His head was hanging low, and she couldn't see his eyes. She blinked and replied,

"Yes, as your PA I am to stay by your side when you're sick." Tony questioned,

"By your own will or because of what your job entails?" She didn't answer that question, but she knew, and he knew what the answer truly was. To change the subject, she checked the clock.

"It's already 5. You should get into a suit." Tony nodded,

"Yep, already on it." He turned to leave, but he stopped abruptly, and looked at Pepper hard. She raised an eyebrow,

"What?"

"You should wear something nice." Her jaw dropped, and she blinked in disbelief,

"I…what?" He repeated the statement,

"You should wear something nice." She was still dumbfounded,

"Me? Wear something nice?" He nodded, unsure as to why she was so confused about it. Her thin eyebrows scrunched up, and the corners of her lips pulled down,

"Are you saying that I'm _**not **_wearing something nice right now?" He shook his head, seeing where this was going,

"No, no of course not, but this guy…y'know remember?" She rolled her eyes,

"Mr. Stark, I still don't believe you. Who is this man that we're meeting for the sake of the company?" He sighed,

"You _**really **_don't need to know the details. Just play it smooth and be super-extra nice to him." The actual look of contemplation that arose on her face nearly made him burst out in laughter. She dragged out,

"_**Welll…**_" Tony pitched in,

"Hey, you could always wear that nice blue dress. The one that compliments your eyes." Pepper struggled to keep a straight face. It was hard. Her boss was the most persuasive, fast-talking, "sweep-you-off-your-feet" type of guy that wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted. At the very bottom of her heart, she was hoping that he was actually being serious, but that was all fantasy. He was, of course, the Tony Stark. Infamy sort of came along with him. The rest of her heart was filled with slight remorse and bitterness. Pepper liked to think of herself as a grounded girl; she knew her limits and knew very much about reality and its…difficult ways. She didn't like her mind floating off this far. She gave Tony a look,

"That's out of the question." He made a face, as he went upstairs to change. His voice echoed in the hallways,

"Why not? It looks really nice." Pepper pretended not to hear him. He loudly shouted,

"Seriously! You should wear it." She groaned inwardly,

"Mr. Stark, I don't really appreciate the input. It's, quite frankly, a very unprofessional dress." He responded,

"No worries. He won't mind." Pepper's eyebrow rose once again, and she shook her head, ignoring him. Jarvis beeped,

"Ms. Potts, Mr. Stark may have a dress or two that he may loan." She snickered a little but was able to speak without the traces of laughter,

"Oh really?" The AI confirmed,

"Yes, he had them for…"

"SHUT UP, JARVIS!" Tony's voice boomed. Pepper's laugh finally came out and was music to Tony's ears. He had made her laugh. That was a relief. Once she had realized what she had done, her lips pulled taut. She breathed in heavily, upset with herself. Even when she was little, it was so easy to make her laugh. She had always been incredibly shy though, so no one had ever tried to make her laugh. Tony was an apparent natural though. She hated to give him the pleasure of it, but she always seemed to end up smiling or laughing around him, even when she was annoyed at him.

"Sorry, sir." Jarvis replied. Pepper sighed,

"Well, we might as well look at them. I don't have time to go to my house and get one now, and Mr. Stark insists on me wearing something else than this." She stepped up the stairs and knocked on Tony's bedroom door,

"Mr. Stark? Where are those…?" She sighed before continuing,

"…Dresses?" He swung the door to the bedroom open, fiddling with his tie.

"I'll, um, show you if…erm…" His eyebrows furrowed, as he tried to put the tie on correctly. She rolled her eyes and put it on for him. Tony made a point of it,

"See, if you weren't there, I'd probably accidentally choke myself with that tie." She patted the tie down,

"Mr. Stark, I'm taking the strong belief that you have a bit more common sense than that." Her twinkling eyes caught his funny grin, and she sighed once again,

"Although I'm starting to doubt my own expectations…" She straightened up the lapels of the suit and looked at him up and down. As professionally as she could, she stated,

"It's a very nice suit." It immediately set off the eyebrow wiggling he was so accustomed to doing,

"Really? Thank you, Ms. Potts. Now, let's see what dresses you have to choose from." She rolled her eyes again, wishing that this wasn't happening. He sauntered off and brought back a few dresses. Pepper, although very much against her will, gasped, and her eyes widened. They were absolutely beautiful dresses. She fingered them a little, before pulling away sharply. Tony made a face,

"Here, choose." He pushed them a little closer to her. She bit her lip and let out a huge breath of air,

"I really don't need or want one." He raised an eyebrow and finally said,

"Alight then, I quote, un-quote, command you to choose one and wear it." Her face twisted into some sort of smile trying to hide away the pure enjoyment she was getting from the conversation. She sarcastically commented,

"Fine." She took the dresses and went into the bathroom down the stairs. Tony smirked at her clear distrust in him, knowing that things were starting to even out already.

"Jarvis, do you have everything ready?"

"Yes, sir."

**AN: Ooh, cliffhangers! XD Don't you love them? Sorry for taking so long to update. I tried making this a little longer than normal to satisfy people. I was able to finish this thanks to a lovely snowday. :D So yay for snow!**


	5. The Restaurant

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN/HAVE CREATED ANY CHARACTERS WRITTEN IN THIS STORY. (except for the obvious made up ones like the chef and waiter and what not) Story (c) me. :)**

Tony felt proud of himself. He laid back on the bed smiling.

"Jarvis?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Let's play a game." Jarvis paused for a second.

"What game, sir?" Tony replied,

"I'll try to find out what kind of dress she's wearing by describing certain traits of each, and you'll tell me yes or no." He could sense the sigh that Jarvis couldn't express. Tony started off right away,

"Any sparkles?"

"No, sir." He tapped his chin,

"Dark colors?"

"Yes, sir." Tony opened his mouth once again to question Jarvis, but the AI cut him off,

"Sorry sir, but it seems that Ms. Potts is unable to choose a dress." Tony rolled his eyes,

"Geez, women can't seem to just pick something and go with it."

"Ms. Potts is trying on all the dresses and seems thoroughly displeased." Tony just smiled.

"Well, tell her if she doesn't find any of those dresses fit, she can always wear that blue one…" He dodged the toothpaste tube that Pepper threw up the stairway, and he shook his head laughing, as he heard her running down the stairs and into the bathroom. A childish grin slowly creeped onto his face,

"Did she hear the whole conversation?" Jarvis responded,

"Yes, sir." Downstairs, Pepper sat uncomfortably on the edge of the bathtub. Truthfully, she loved all of the dresses and was extremely awed and pleased with them…and that was exactly the problem. They all were wonderful, and she was curious to find out how Tony had got his hands on them. Needless to say, she was also wary that they may have been from previous women. Jarvis questioned her,

"Is there something wrong, Ms. Potts?" She glanced around the bathroom,

"Oh, no…I'm just taking a…a little while." Pepper closed her eyes and randomly pulled out a dress, figuring that it wouldn't even matter anyways, and realizing that they were going to be late if she stalled any longer. Her hands found a dark navy blue dress with diamonds dotting the side. A sash was tied around the waist of the one shouldered satin dress. It was long and billowed out slightly at the bottom. The PA sighed, knowing that Tony would comment on the blue once again. She slipped into it and looked at herself in the full frame mirror. Her cheeks were flushed from all the inward thinking, but she tried to calm down. She slowly creaked open the door with her clothes in her hands. Carefully, she stepped around the corner only to be surprised by a waiting Tony. She shrieked and fell backwards. He put out his arm and caught her almost romantically. For a second, her eyes were filled with wonder and sincere compassion, but the next second revealed the steely blue that hid her feelings well. Tony, nevertheless, cocked his head to the side and commented,

"Y'know, this is a pretty romantic hold." Pepper pulled herself out of his arms and huffed,

"That was extremely rude. You nearly gave me a heart attack." He grinned,

"Because I'm so dashing looking right now, or because of that sweet hold?" She squinted angrily at him and said nothing. Tony smoothly continued,

"I don't know about you, but I'm pretty speechless looking at you with that dress on." She rolled her eyes,

"Really now?" Tony leaned on a wall,

"Oh yea. That dress was my mother's when she went on her first date with my dad." She stiffened,

"Are you trying to suggest something?" The warning tones only made Tony smile even more, knowing that he was taking her guard down.

"No…why, what did you think I was suggesting?" She glanced away,

"Nothing." There was a silence. Pepper cleared her throat,

"Well, we best not be late." She took his hand firmly and took him down the stairs to the garage. He smirked like a little kid. Slowly and in a low voice, he told her,

"You're holding my hand…" She instantly let go, as if she had been holding a hot pan.

"I'm not going to try to argue with you on that."

"Because you know that I'll win any argument." Her jaw dropped, and she put her hands on her hips,

"That's a lie!" He wiggled his eyebrows,

"See? Already, you're unable to resist my suave style, and you've lost that argument." She raised a thin eyebrow,

"What argument?"

"That little argument with yourself over whether or not I'm worth your time." He smirked knowingly, and she pouted slightly.

"Get in the car." Pepper shoved him lightly into the back and went around the car to enter in the other way. Happy glanced behind at Tony, confused. He just shrugged. An annoyed and mussed up Pepper slid next to her boss. The driver politely questioned,

"Ms. Potts, do you need a minute?" She inhaled deeply,

"No, I'm fine. Let's go." Happy nodded, pulling his hat down over his forehead a bit more, before starting up the car.

"You know where the meeting's being held, right Happy?" He nodded once again,

"Yes, Mr. Stark. Jarvis told me." He grinned,

"Good." Pepper looked back and forth between the two men. They both didn't meet her eyes, and Happy merely whistled away. She crossed her arms, and her eyes narrowed. The ride was silent except for the occasional cough that Tony would suppress. She thrust a coughing lozenge into his palm. He glanced at her in disbelief,

"You have everything, don't you?" She smiled briefly,

"Yes, I think I do." Tony popped it into his mouth and sucked on it. Pepper kept looking out the car window. She looked at Tony again and then back out the window. He finally asked her,

"What? What has you all fidgety?" She played her fingers.

"Nothing…" He made a face,

"You're not nervous about the guy we're gonna meet…are you?" She shook her head,

"No, it's not that." He pursed his lips,

"Then what could be the problem?" She exhaled,

"Well, you're going to call me a hypocrite for saying this…" Tony smirked,

"Don't worry, Potts. I won't." The small woman bit her lower lip,

"I just think it's really odd that the media isn't around. Usually, they're all over silly things like this." He shrugged,

"Whatever. He told me that he was going to make sure no one would interrupt us. He's taking this meeting very seriously." She raised an eyebrow,

"Wow, he got rid of all the paparazzi and everything." He laid back in his seat a bit more and put his hands in his pockets,

"Yep, he's really something." Pepper was slightly interested. She questioned innocently,

"What does he look like?" Her boss picked up on the interest and smiled,

"Well…he's average height…kinda muscular…dark hair…" She tried imagining him,

"Really?" He nodded,

"Yea, I know him pretty well." Her eyebrows furrowed,

"But how do you know him, and I don't?" Tony waved a hand,

"No, no you've met him before." She rested her face in one hand, thinking. Tony had to resist her cute little pout and looked away. Happy pulled up to the sidewalk,

"Well, here we are folks." Pepper straightened herself out,

"Thank you, Happy." Tony gave the driver a two-fingered salute and stepped out of the car alongside Pepper. A look of suspicion and wariness crossed her thin face,

"What is this?" Tony replied bluntly,

"A restaurant." She frowned,

"Yes, I know that, but why would he have us meet here?" He shrugged,

"I dunno. He said he wanted a relaxing atmosphere."

"Tony, this is a high-class restaurant. The least thing I'm going to be is relaxed." The dark haired man put a hand on her shoulder,

"Pep, you have nothing to worry about. He'll be fine with you. Just _**try **_to relax." She breathed in and out heavily.

"Alright." She managed to mutter. Tony patted her arm,

"Good, now let's go in." They went past the intricate glass doors and past the printed sign that said 'Bertolli's Plaza'. The music was quiet, calm, yet there was barely anyone to listen to it. Pepper looked around her for a good three times. Tony laughed a little,

"Wh-where are people? There's no one here!" The chef was instantly in front of them. He shook their hands and smiled that sort of reassuring smile. He straightened out his moustache, as he spoke,

"Bonjourno, Ms. Potts and Mr. Stark." They both smiled at the portly man. He led them to a clean, well-prepared table. The candles flickered in the evening light. Pepper situated herself gently, and placed the napkin over her lap. Tony did the same and thanked the kind Italian man. The PA looked around for another chair that the mysterious man was supposed to sit at,

"Um, where's the man going to sit?" Tony smiled mischievously,

"He'll bring over a seat. He's going to come shortly." She shifted around in her seat anxiously and repeated her question from earlier,

"Where is everyone?" He ran his fingers along the rim of his tall glass cup,

"Oh, he booked the entire restaurant so that we would be the only ones here." She gaped once again,

"Who is this man?" Tony shrugged it off,

"He's just someone like me, Pepper." She glanced away and thought about what Tony had just said. A waiter walked up to the table with a little notepad in his pocket. He handed them two deep red colored menus. Both people opened them up and began flipping through the yellowed, authentic-looking pages. The heavy-accented man told them,

"We have French onion soup for the soup du jour, and the fish of the day is…" Tony cut him off,

"Yea, yea, never mind that. Just come back in like a few minutes, and we'll have chosen things." The waiter reddened a bit but walked off without another word. Pepper stared at him in disbelief and embarrassment,

"Tony!" He glanced up,

"Yes, Pepper?" She was at a loss for words,

"Wh-what was that for?" He apologized,

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you want the soup or something?" Pepper shook her head while silently smiling to herself. Tony licked his lips and grinned himself. There was an awkward silence, as they looked at the menus. Tony finally decided to say something,

"So, how's work?" Pepper rolled her eyes,

"Well, I don't quite know because I haven't worked the whole day."

"Work's good for me too." He flashed a toothy smile. Pepper ducked her head right into the menu again, but Tony saw another split-second, shy smile.

**AN: So sorry guys that this is super late. :/ I went on a vacation this winter break, so I didn't have ANY time to write. It's extremely short, and I'm again terribly sorry. Hope you all enjoyed your break though. :)**


	6. Surprises Surprises Surprises

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN IRON MAN OR ANY CHARACTERS AFFILIATED WITH IT. They belong to their own peoples. :/**

A few minutes afterwards, they were ready to order. They called over the disturbed waiter. There was a quiver and slight fear of being embarrassed once again in his voice,

"Y-yes?"

"You go first, Pep." Tony waved a hand. Pepper made a face and shook her head.

"Um, I'd a small salad to start off, and then, perhaps later a Neapolitan pasta." Her fingers shut the menu, and she politely handed it to the waiter.

"A-and you, sir?" Tony pursed his lips,

"Hm, I think I'll have the French onion soup du jour thingy you were talking about earlier, and then I'd like chicken parmesan." He handed his menu in as well. The waiter gave a small nod of the head before hurrying off. Pepper rolled her eyes and put her face in her right hand. Tony grinned childishly.

"What? Is it because you can't look at me that long until you get a blush?" He slyly questioned Pepper. His PA's cheeks became hot all too quickly, but she hid it very well. She awkwardly twisted the napkin that was on her lap.

"Well, when's that important person coming?" The anxiousness in her voice was all too evident.

"He's coming, he's coming…oh wait…" Tony reassured her. He closed his eyes suddenly. Pepper's eyes narrowed slightly, as she stared at him, confused. A smile slowly appeared on his face, and he cocked his head a bit to the left, as his eyes opened.

"And here he is." Pepper glanced around the restaurant. There was still no one. She pulled the thin curtains back and peeked outside to see if anyone was coming. No one. She gave Tony a funny look.

"Alright, is this some sort of joke?" She asked him, a little annoyed. He put his hands up in defense.

"No, of course not! Here he is right now!" He waited for her response. She carefully looked around but still saw no one.

"Hello, Ms. Potts. A pleasure to meet you!" Tony suddenly spoke loudly. He thrust his hand out. Pepper, at first, thought he was going mad, but then she slowly started to piece it together. Average height, kinda muscular, dark hair, she knew him very well, and the business relied on him…it all fit into place. She, half in exasperation half in relief, threw her hands up in the air and put her face to the table. Tony started laughing. She must've figured it out. One eye peeked from underneath her crossed arms on the table, and she asked, slightly muffled.

"It's you…isn't it?" In response to this, Tony began clapping his hands.

"Yes, of course! Wonderful detective work, Potts!" He commented happily. She exhaled slowly and gave him one of those signature you-better-stop-this-right-now looks. That goofy grin was still stuck on his face though. To be truthful with herself though, she was actually a little relieved at the least. Pepper had been fretting over this "guy". She had been so afraid about the business and everything, and all it turned out to be just an act.

"So why did you really have me come here?" Pepper asked him cautiously. He pursed his lips in response.

"Oh, I don't know…maybe it was to give you this." Tony slowly smiled again, as he pulled small bouquet of flowers from under the table. The look on her face made him melt a little inside. Her arched eyebrows rose in surprise, and her small mouth shaped itself into a little 'o'. She reached for it but stopped and hesitated. Her boss took a hold of her hand and placed the flowers into her grasp. For that second, both of them felt an electrifying pulse that neither could describe. Pepper slowly pulled her hands to her lap and silently stared at the flowers. Tony awkwardly bit his lip a little. Suddenly, her voice broke the silence,

"How did you know I loved gerberas?" She whispered almost soundlessly. He smirked.

"A little intuition." Tony replied wittily. The corners of Pepper's lips turned up a little in a sincere smile, and he was satisfied. The next few moments passed a little awkwardly. They found themselves glancing at one another at random times, and when they met up with the other's eyes, they would immediately look away. Tony took a deep breath in and decided to be a grown-up about the situation,  
"So, you're not mad?" The question floated almost heavily. She fingered the flower petals, before looking at him.

"No, I'm not mad." She murmured. He glanced up in surprise.

"Really? Like, not even a little?" Tony checked her expressions. They seemed thoughtful.

"Why, Mr. Stark? Would you _**like **_me to get mad?" Pepper smiled a little. He shrugged.

"No, no, not really. I just wanted to make sure you weren't super upset or anything." Pepper rolled her eyes at this.

"Why in the world would I be mad…? Well, except for the fact that you've taken me on a blind date and that you've spent so much money calling off the paparazzi and people in this restaurant…" She gave him a look, as she said this.

"First of all, you came _**willingly **_to this meeting, and second, you shouldn't be worried about the money, Pep."

"Tony, I'm your PA…I'm _**supposed **_to worry about the money, and I don't think that this would be considered a "meeting" anymore." She crossed her arms and gave him a you-know-you're-going-to-lose-this-argument look. Tony leaned on the table.

"I know I haven't been really good with the money, but I know I'm spending it on something really important to me right here." He saw a little part of her melt internally when he said that. Tony smiled knowingly, and Pepper quickly dropped her gaze, unable to say anything back. She began twisting the napkin tightly again. The waiter came to her rescue with the plates of food. He put them down without a word and rushed off, not wanting to cause anymore trouble. Tony made a face. That waiter had just ruined his moment. Pepper took up her fork and pushed the salad around awkwardly. Tony sighed,

"Ms. Pepper Potts, I certainly hope you know how to feed yourself." He told her. She frowned a little.

"I certainly hope you learn to pick up some manners along the way as well." She huffed. Pepper continued to play with her greens, until Tony plucked the utensil out of her hand. The PA raised an eyebrow and gave him a warning look. He merely stabbed a lettuce leaf and thrust it near Pepper's mouth. She tightened her lips and managed to mutter,

"You are _**not **_feeding me food." Tony cocked his head again, and replied,

"Oh, really?"

"Yes really, I…" Tony cleverly stuck the lettuce in her mouth and happily watched her chew distastefully, knowing that she wouldn't have the heart to spit it out in front of him. The little frown upon her face only made her look even lovelier in the candlelight.

"You look absolutely stunning, Ms. Potts." He told her out of nowhere.

"I think you've said that before."

"Yea, but I just wanted to say it again." He smirked at her blushy reaction once again. They both ate very little. Pepper kept uncomfortably shifting in her seat. Tony finally rallied up the courage to ask her a question.

"Why are you still so twitchy, Potts? It's just you and me." He pointed his fork in her direction and then in his. Pepper didn't really want to make her boss feel bad by saying that the situation of her and him being together in a place like this _**was **_the problem. She hesitated,

"Well…I just…it's a little…" The sides of her lips pulled down in frustration of having nothing to say. He pulled his fingers through his dark hair, and Pepper absent-mindedly wished that she could touch his hair as well. She shook her head in a bit of embarrassment, but Tony didn't see her color this time around.

"I didn't want to have to do this Pepper, but you give me no choice." He solemnly told her with the straightest face he could muster. The slightly fearful look in Pepper's eyes made him smirk a little. He took out a box and placed it front of her. She gave him another look, the scared expression wiped clean off her face.

"Open it." He commanded her. She sighed and carefully opened the small box. The tangy smell of fruits instantly greeted her, and she immediately snapped the box closed. Tony rolled his eyes and laughed lightly,

"If it smells alright, it should be okay. You didn't even take the chance to see what it was!" He commented teasingly.

"I don't need to look in it; I know what it is, and I respectfully give it back to you." She told him and pushed the box back. Tony pushed it towards her again. Pepper slid it back. They went on with that for a few seconds until Pepper finally gave up. She stared at the box unhappily.

"Why so unhappy, Pep? You don't like jelly candies?" He smiled a little. Pepper sighed.

"On the contrary, Mr. Stark; I love them…and that's the problem." She replied outright. She looked almost defeated when suddenly a wide smile suddenly curled onto her face.

"What's so funny now?" Tony suspiciously asked her. She folded her hands together and just kept grinning, resting her chin upon her folded hands.

"Oh, I just found out how you've worked everything together." Tony raised an eyebrow at this.

"Please, tell me your logic."

"Well, I figure that you just asked Jarvis for all of this information." She told him slyly.

"And you probably want something for your efforts, don't you? Why else would you do something like this for me? What is it? A day off from work? You've had that today, you're 'sick, remember?" Pepper justified his actions.

"You almost had me, Mr. Stark…truly." Pepper added. Tony shook his head,

"Sorry, but you're completely off, Potts. You lost your detective edge." He smirked. Her face fell a little,

"No, I know I'm right. You totally didn't know all of this." She told him matter-of-factly.

"And what if I actually did?" Tony knew he was lying, but now that he knew about her favorite things, he could've sworn that it pricked something in the back of his memory.

"That still doesn't tell me why you did all that you did."

"How about I wanted to spend time with someone who's spent their time caring about mine?" Pepper was silent. Quietly, she asked him,

"Are you really sick, too?"

"Yep, I'm still sick. You can check my temperature if you want Pep, but you might want to take off a few degrees because that dress you're wearing still has me a bit worked up." He smirked again, and Pepper shoved him lightly on the arm.

"Oh stop it…" She scolded him, but he knew that she believed every word he had said, willingly or not.

"Have one…please?" He asked her. Pepper sighed, as she studied the candies. Slowly but surely, she picked one up with her thin fingertips. Her eyes glanced up at Tony who was still smiling away. She quickly popped it into her mouth and chewed it as fast as she could. Her boss laughed a little at the determined look on her face. She swallowed quickly as well, trying to keep her straight face on even though she very much enjoyed the treat.

"Do you like them?" He asked her. She breathed in deeply.

"They're…fine." Pepper began nervously pulling her napkin in different directions once again. Tony just smiled.

"Good. No more surprises now, Pep. Just eating." The waiter, this time on cue, took away their appetizers and placed down their entrees. Tony raised his wine glass,

"To us?" Pepper glanced at her wine glass, and then to Tony. She sighed, picked up the glass, and gently hit it against his.

"To us."

**AN: Well, it's certainly been a long time, hasn't it. =.=" So sorry to make you all wait that long! I had a huge project at school, mid-terms, more tests, violin...ETCETCETC. D: lol. I hope you enjoy this short entry though. :) Love you all! 3**


	7. The Last Try

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN/HAVE CREATED IRON MAN OR ANY AFFILIATED CHARACTERS. (c) Marvel...here, in my world though, THEY'RE ALL SUBJECTED TO MY OWN THOUGHTS. :D**

Pepper nibbled on a single carrot for a few minutes, clearly in thought. Her heart was too jumbled up. Things were happening too quickly. She didn't like things happening too quickly…_**especially **_when she didn't even know what was going on. Tony noted this, and he let out a huge breath of air, putting his fork down.

"Pepper, I don't wanna make you do something you don't want to do. Truthfully, I think both you and I know that you're not having a good time." He seemed a little remorseful…regretful. Pepper tried to ease his feelings.

"No, no it's not you Tony…it's…" She made a face, knowing that whatever was going to come out next was going to be positively cheesy.

"Well, it's certainly not you, Pep." Tony offered.

"And it's not you." Pepper added.

"I blame it on Jarvis." Tony suddenly announced. Pepper's thin eyebrow raised itself.

"But Jarvis did nothing either."

"Well, I need somebody to blame, don't I?" He grinned foolishly, and Pepper sighed.

"Oh, alright." She gave up.

"But seriously, if you wanna get out of here, that's fine. I've got something else I wanna show you anyways." That all too familiar, scheming look arose onto his face, and she was immediately cautious. She made a face, knowing that he had said that there were to be no more surprises just a few minutes earlier.

"Hang on, under a few conditions." She quickly responded. Tony laughed, knowing that she was smart not to trust him without a few rules.

"It better not be as big as a skyscraper, not very costly, and if it involves any slight implication of fear or trauma, it's out of the question." Pepper told him matter-of-factly. Tony merely laughed harder.

"Aw, Pepper! What fun is that?"

"Well, how do you suppose other people have fun **without **all that stuff?" Pepper protested.

"I'm not just any 'other' person." Tony shot back. Pepper paused. That was actually right. He was completely different from any other person she ever met…in good and bad ways. Most of the time, she focused on the bad sides, but he really wasn't all that bad. As his PA, she was supposed to be critical, but she found herself admiring him and worrying over him more than criticizing. It was a little embarrassing being so vulnerable to him. He knew how to make her laugh, comfort her, and just be an ear to her.

Ever since he had taken on the alias of Iron Man, he had certainly changed. He turned down more parties and women to spend time with people like her and Rhodey. In fact, now that she thought of it, he hadn't brought home a woman ever since he had returned from Afghanistan…

She thought to herself, as Tony tried calling over the waiter.

"Here." He handed the waiter a few bills.

"B-but this is way too much…" The waiter fumbled with his words and the money.

"Eh, the rest is tip." Tony stood up and stretched a little. The waiter's face was priceless; jaw dropped and eyes bugging out.

"Th-thank you so much, sir!"

"No problem." He waved a hand and took Pepper by the hand, taking her out of the restaurant rather quickly. Night had fallen onto the Californian city quickly, and building lights were brightening the area alongside glittering stars in the clear, deep indigo sky.

"What's the rush?" Pepper cautiously asked him. He just smiled.

"I really can't wait to show you my surprises." Pepper noticed the extra 's' he put at the end of 'surprise' and raised an eyebrow. Tony whistled loudly and sharply and Happy was instantly by the curb.

"How was dinner?" He asked them.

"Very nice." Pepper told him, as she slid into the back with Tony following her in.

"I always liked that place." Happy gave a small smile.

"Yep." Tony shortly replied, seeming more anxious than before. Pepper scrunched her nose.

"You seem antsier than I am." She joked. Her boss chuckled a little.

"I guess so." In truth, he was more worried about the night in general. She had, although reluctantly, accepted to all of his little gifts and such, but he was unsure as to whether or not she was taking him seriously. Heck, she even agreed to go to dinner with him…but was she doing it because she really wanted to or because he had insisted? Was he pushing her into something she didn't want? This last…thing for her should seal the deal for him, but with Pepper, he was never sure. He didn't want to make her do something that she didn't want to pursue. Did she realize that he was trying desperately hard to impress her while failing miserably? Was it noticeable? He had so many questions he wanted to ask her…so many things that he didn't really know… Pepper saw the lines of worry lining his face, and she cocked her head in confusion.

"Are…you okay, Tony?" She reached her hand out to pat his own. Her light touch soothed him.

"Yea, I'm just trying to find out what to do in any case scenario when you find out what I have for you." To his relief, Pepper laughed.

"You don't have to worry about that. I think you'd probably just continue on anyways." Pepper smiled cutely, and Tony couldn't help but smile back. She had such a wonderful smile…

"Is it right here, Mr. Stark?" Happy asked him, taking him out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, yea. Right here's good. Thanks a lot, Happy." He reached over, gave him a pat on the arm before getting out of the car. He reached a hand in to help Pepper out, and she brushed herself off, taking a look around her. They were already back at Tony's house, but he was climbing up the stairs on the side of the house leading up to the glass roof.

"Tony? We can use the front door you know." She called up to him sarcastically.

"No, no…come up." He reached down for her hand and helped her up alongside him. Pepper made a face.

"What's going on…?"

"Oh, come on, Pepper! Trust me! Just a little!" He laughed a little himself when he saw her stick her tongue out for a split-second.

"Okay, okay." She rolled her eyes, but she was truly excited to see what it was that he had in store for her. He hoisted her up onto the roof of his Malibu home and put her in a specific spot. Holding up his hands, he told her,

"You stay **right **there. Cover your eyes with your hands and don't peek! Okay? Promise?" He asked her. Pepper giggled a little. She felt like a five-year-old waiting to see what was going to pop out at her.

"Promise." She agreed. She heard him scramble off the roof, and a little voice inside her made a point that he could just be keeping her up there to make a joke of it. Pepper squashed the thought, knowing that if it was all a trick, she could easily get back at him any day of the week.

Suddenly, there was a loud crack and a few pops. Forgetting her promise, she snapped her eyes open. A flurry of bright colors sparkled her eyes. Blue, red, purple… They lit up the sky, using the darkened background to their advantage. She saw a little figure moving in the sky and recognized it as Tony's suit. He was shooting flares, rockets, and fireworks into the sky creating patterns and such. Tony quickly formed a flower using yellow, red, and green. Pepper clapped her hands together in delight, eyes brimming with happy tears and disbelief. She jumped onto her feet and gaped at the precision. A smiley face…stars…swirls… She heard Tony's faint voice in the distance,

"Here's the last one!" He called out. After a few bangs and a loud crackle, the sky was dark. She heard the whistle of an extremely noisy firecracker, and the explosion was breathtaking. There was a cascade of hearts and bright, golden strips of sparkles that fell down in a waterfall-type way. In the middle, a firework exploded, and it revealed her smiling face. Tony knew that people from miles away could probably see the show, but he made no effort to cover it up. It might've ticked her off that her face was in the sky, but she shouldn't need to worry. She was absolutely beautiful to him anyways. Tony flicked open his helmet to see her reaction from the air, figuring that talking to himself about the matter didn't really help his situation.

She had fallen down onto her behind and was sitting in absolute amazement on the glass roof, the colors of the fire reflecting beautifully off her eyes. He relaxed at this and flew over above the roof. He landed at her side, and the suit disassembled itself, neatly now in the form of a briefcase at his side. Tony pulled Pepper onto her feet, taking in the joy of seeing her clear adoration. Her lower lip trembled, as she tried to speak. Tony stopped her with a smile and a raise of his hand.

"One second, Pepper. Hold that thought. I still have to say something more." He cleared his throat, took a short breath in, and fixed his tie, glancing at her cheerful smile.

_"Your cheeks reddened and fiery just like your hair. _

_Do nothing but beautify your blue eyes so fair. _

_Your features are only a part of what make you my love. _

_As pure and as peaceful as a white dove…" _

His voice was a little shaky, but it gained confidence and sound, as he stared at her longer and longer. Pepper and Tony both knew he wasn't a poet, but Pepper found this more romantic than any Shakespeare sonnet or poem written ever. She rethought the few lines…"my"…"love"…? Pepper brought up the courage to look at his handsome, dark eyes. Their eyes locked in place, and Pepper realized that what he was saying was coming from his heart…he was making everything up right on the spot. He wasn't reading anything, just staring deep into her eyes. Her heart swelled up with complete love. It was that feeling that she experienced every so often when she was around Tony. Something that she didn't really want to tell him, but something that had always been present in her thoughts. She could see his slight worry, but most of his expressions were filled with thoughtful care, as he continued.

_"Nothing could make you more perfect, in my own eyes. _

_Even though you can believe everything I say is just a lie. _

_May the truth be told, when I look at you, my dear. _

_You take away everything, my hate…my fear…_

_I want to spend the rest of my days with you from morning till' night._

_I know you can make everything feel so right._

_Pepper, my sweet Pepper, I have only one more thing to say._

_Pepper, my sweet Pepper, I love you, in every single way…"_

**AN: Aww, isn't our Tony such a sweet little lover-boy? :D AND WHO KNEW HE WAS A POET? (Ha, not really. :P I'm not especially good at poems...) He really does love her, and she feels the same way BUT...is she willing to show it? :O You guys will have to...WAIT TO FIND OUT. :D Ahh, I'm so mean. ;) JUST KIDDING! Hope you all had a good spring vacation and enjoy this update! REMEMBER TO REVIEW & COMMENT PLEASE. :D That short couple of seconds it takes to write something will give Pepper courage to tell Tony that she loves him back! PROMISE! :) Thanks for reading, and have a great day, reader. :)**


	8. Saturday

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN/HAVE CREATED IRON MAN OR ANY AFFILIATED CHARACTERS. (c) Marvel. :) **

Tony swallowed hard after finishing his not-so-well-thought-out poem…however, he figured that most good things couldn't be predicted or set-up…most of them just happened… Her eyes were still wide, and they blinked half in disbelief and half in the loss of words and inability to express her thoughts. It was happening so quickly, Pepper still couldn't believe what was going on. He had taken her to dinner, given her flowers, candy, a fireworks show, and now this? It was so much at once…

Pepper shook her head a little, still unable to say anything. Tony felt anxious again.

"I…understand if it's too much for you…" Tony spoke softly, his eyes not meeting hers. She licked her lips and tried to speak up, a little dazed that he almost read her mind perfectly.

"It's fine." Pepper simply told him. She inwardly slapped herself in the face. What kind of thing was that to say? Now it made it seem like she didn't really care about all that he had said and done. He wasn't apologizing for anything, but now she made it seem as if he was. She spoke up again quickly, not giving him a chance to reply.

"It was a beautiful poem…" Pepper knew she was beating around the bush, but was what she going to say? That she really…truly…deep-down inside…loved him back?

He was certainly telling the truth that he loved her, but Pepper just felt so awkward. So out of place.

Tony smiled briefly to ease her.

"It's okay, Pepper. You don't have to lie. It was a bad poem." He confessed. She smiled herself. He could make her feel so relaxed…

"I'm not lying. It was really sweet." She insisted, taking up his hand in her own. To her surprise, it was colder than hers, almost like he had been in a cold sweat the whole time. She put her other hand on top of the same hand, warming Tony's hand.

"Do believe every word that I said?" He asked her quietly. Pepper blinked and looked back down at their intertwined hands.

"Yes." She replied a little breathlessly. The space between the two was disappearing bit by bit. She felt a little shiver go through her system, as he met her eyes. They were softened and deep, giving a melting sort of look to them. Her own irises were round and sharp blue-shaded disks.

Ever so carefully, Tony leaned his head in a little closer, his breath just upon her; the warmth of it making goosebumps rise all over her. She closed her eyes and moved in the rest of the way, meeting his lips ever so lightly. He deepened the kiss, pulling Pepper a little closer, one arm around her waist. Pepper released his hand and found her hands behind his head, just brushing his neck and hair. Tony caressed her face with his free hand, feeling her incredibly soft skin. He dipped her a little and felt her smile.

Very gently, he pulled away, a little out of breath. It hadn't been a relatively long kiss, but he felt as if all the weight in the world had just lifted off of him. All his work duties, superhero tasks…they meant nothing. He brought Pepper to her feet, smiling just a little.

"Does that mean you agree?" He questioned her with his grin. She smiled herself, laughing shortly.

"How does partially work for you?"

"Works fine for me. I can build my way from there." He sat down on the roof, admiring the sky, and the cool night. It was pleasant. Pepper took a seat next to him, breathing in the chilly air. The skies were still smoky from the fireworks, and Pepper enjoyed watching the wind blow them into billowed patterns, leading them far out into the sea. She hugged her knees, leaning absentmindedly on Tony's shoulder. He let her rest there, smiling a little.

Bit by bit, Pepper felt her eyes began to close. They were weighed down by the events of this single day, and she felt so…so…

Finally, her eyes shut themselves, and she gave herself up to sleep…and Tony. Pepper almost collapsed into his arms, still with a dreamy expression on her beautiful features. Her boss had to resist a number of urges, yet he gently put a little hair behind her ear, saw her smile again, and was able to relax. He slowly lowered himself down, ending up lying on the glass roof, with Pepper curled up at his side, sleeping on his chest. Although the light of his arc reactor was kind of bright, she was able to sleep through it, enjoying the warmth, and the faint buzzing it gave off.

----

The light of the sun burned Pepper's eyes when she cracked them open just a little. It was barely over the horizon, but it stung, and Pepper's body felt extremely achy for a weird reason. She felt really warm too…but what a weird pillow… Pepper finally took the chance to glance up, and she saw a sleeping Tony. She shot up from her position on him and tried moving away as quickly as she could. Forgetting that she was on a glass roof, she began sliding down, heading straight for the ocean. She screamed, trying to climb back up, when she felt a firm grasp on her arm. Tony, who looked a slightly annoyed and in pain, pulled her up the best he could, keeping his grip on the roof. Pepper felt another blush rise onto her cheeks on top of the redness that she had probably received as sunburn from staying on the roof and forgetting.

"Geez, Pepper. Forgot already?" He laughed a little, not affected by the sun, although his back did hurt a little. She stuttered, unable to say real words. Pepper stood up quickly and began straightening out her clothing and hair, using the roof as a mirror for the moment.

"It's okay, Pep! People won't really see you up here." He joked. She seemed hasty and worried despite it all. He didn't find any reason behind it, but Pepper did. She had just **slept **on her boss. **On her boss.** Her head started to hurt from all of the things she was beginning to remember. They had gone to dinner together…they had kissed…oh, who knew what else! She couldn't even remember the past night that well.

Seeing her worry still present, Tony leaned forward and pecked her on the cheek. He felt her cheeks heat up even more when his lips touched them. She briskly slid down the roof and onto the staircase, hurriedly dashing down the steps and into his home, not responding to it exactly as Tony had planned. Tony pursed his lips in his own self-worry that Pepper was going to pop back into her shell again like a turtle. Perhaps kissing her on the cheek wasn't the greatest idea he had come up with. He stepped onto a platform that gently brought him down directly into the house. Pepper was rushing around with papers flying everywhere, trying to restart her Blackberry. He made a face at the apparent reality. She was walking in front of him when he snatched her arm and stopped her from moving.

"Pepper, calm down! You're acting like you've had eight cups of coffee!" He sarcastically remarked. She stared at him in disbelief. There more than enough reasons to act the way she was. She twisted herself out of his grip, running in another direction.

"Hey, come back!" He called after her, chasing his PA down. She had probably forgotten that today was a Saturday, too. She was off from work that single day in the week…although she ended up just trying to do more work for later.

He chased her down the hallway cornering her at the end of a particularly long one.

"Will you at least answer me?" He questioned her, a little exasperated. She clutched the things she had in her arms.

"Okay then, what?" She asked him, still a little jumpy.

"Why the hell are you so all over the place? It's Saturday." He reminded her. Pepper made a face.

"So? I have a lot of work to do and…wait a minute…" A thinking expression rose steadily onto her face.

"Aren't you supposed to be sick?" She finally remembered the thing that had begun the events of yesterday. It had hit her all of a sudden when she had noticed his pleasant disposition and absence of coughing. His eyes widened for a split-second in remembrance as well. Pepper realized this, frowned, and her eyes narrowed. Tony bit his lower lip, shrugged slightly, and uttered a clearly fake cough. Pepper dropped her things all at once and ran after him instead.

"You are so dead!" She screamed after him. He shot off, laughing, happy to have eased Pepper's weird stiffness.

"That's not a very professional thing to say!" He called back, turning around to see where she was. He glanced side to side, not seeing a trace of her anywhere. He carefully backed into the main living room, looking all around him. Pepper expertly sneaked behind him and pushed him onto the couch hard, triumphant.

She leaned in close to his ear and through her clenched teeth, she whispered, "Dead."

A pile of papers were dropped onto him stomach. They were surprisingly heavy and made a bit of a thud as it landed there uncomfortably. He winced. Pepper dropped a single pen on top of it all, with her arms crossed, giving him a tiresome look.

"It seems that **you **have a lot of work to catch up on." She pointed out the obvious and began walking off; her heels clicking almost annoyingly.

"Don't you wanna know how I did it? The temperature and everything?" He called after her, shoving the papers and pen off of him and to the floor. Pepper kept her back turned.

"No, I don't care." She simply replied, walking back to the table with her own briefcase and laptop. Pepper repeatedly pressed the 'on' button for her phone.

"Oh, come on…please turn on…" She muttered to it.

"Well, does the fact that I'm turned on make it any better?" Tony asked from the doorway, grinning like an idiot. Pepper huffed at his immaturity and the disgusting statement and grabbed her things.

"I have to go to the office." She told him matter-of-factly, pushing past him.

"Uh, does Saturday have **any **meaning whatsoever to you? It's closed, Pep. Deal with it." Tony smirked, shaking his head at her clear want to leave. He then sighed to himself. How quickly could women change from sweet to sour? It amazed him to no end.

"Fine then, I'm going home to work." She knew it would hit him in a soft spot, and she got the reaction she was pinning for. His face fell.

"Don't go, Pepper!"

"I'm going…" She sang from the hallway.

"No, no!" He stammered, rushing to block the doorway. She raised her eyebrow, smiling.

"Mr. Stark, I do believe this is a violation of free will that I have because today is…**Saturday**." Her little smile, although Tony loved it so, was absolutely agitating. She was an angelic evil that had captured his heart. Plain and simple, but so hard to understand.

"Well, I do believe you need to help me with that." He motioned towards the hundreds of papers he had strewn across the floor in a hurry to get up. Pepper made a face of shock and rushed in that direction. Tony moved his tongue over his teeth, grinning. _OCD, heh._

"Look what you did! Oh, Tony!" She pulled a hand through her hair in distress, as she tried to re-organize everything in the exact alphabetical order she had, had it in. Tony laughed slightly at how much control she obviously had over herself in situation like this, before going over to actually help his assistant. Her hair was all messed up again, and she felt nervous having Tony trying to see what she was doing from above. She managed to gather all the papers quickly, and she shoved them into her boss's arms indignantly.

"Can you try to be organized?"

"I try, but don't you see this is the **exact **reason why I hired you on, Pepper?" He smiled widely, hoping that she'd stay just for the day at least. Her eyes narrowed.

"Do you want me to pay you extra for working on Saturday, then?" Tony prodded her with a little guilt-trip. Pepper blinked a few times and looked down at the papers in his hands. He shrugged, and she sighed.

"Forget it; I guess negotiating with you was a stupid idea." Pepper gave up, throwing her hands into the air, walking off into another room. Tony grinned a little and followed her in.

"It figures."

**AN: Soo, I had some time on my hands, and I whipped this up quickly at around three in the morning...D: A VERY, VERY BAD IDEA. lol, any who, we get a bit of Pepper's reaction initially and then afterwards. Seems as if she's always changing. Maybe it's a tactic...? Tony hopes so. ;) Heck, Pepper probably didn't even wanna leave anyways. XD lol. THANKS FOR READING, AND DON'T FORGOT TO COMMENT & REVIEW. :) Please and thank you!!**


	9. Repercussions

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN IRON MAN OR ANY AFFILIATED CHARCTERS. (C) MARVEL. :) (yes, I got this in the day of the release of Iron Man 2!!)**

_"Forget it; I guess negotiating with you was a stupid idea." Pepper gave up, throwing her hands into the air, walking off into another room. Tony grinned a little and followed her in._

_"It figures."_

Pepper stalked back to the couch and scooped up the papers.

"Alright, why don't we go down to your workshop and work on these." She sighed. Tony grinned.

"Sure!"

"You can't play with your cars, Tony." She told him sternly, knowing that he would think of that immediately. He frowned.

"Fine; you're no fun, Pep." Tony playfully pouted.

"Can I play with something else?" He asked her suggestively. She frowned herself.

"**Not **funny, Mr. Stark."

"I wasn't being funny."

Pepper glanced away, heading down the stairs with a small smile on her face. Why did she have to like a guy like him? _See? I only like him…I don't really…actually didn't I say last night…? …probably the food…_ Pepper tried telling herself that this wasn't what she wanted. It DID only happen last night, and Tony went pretty…quickly… If he tried anything funny though, Pepper was completely prepared with a bunch of nasty comments, papers, and the perfect silent treatment. Yes, she was totally prepared…right?

She laid the papers out on an empty table that Tony's tools weren't occupying and began organizing them into piles. Tony scratched his head from behind.

"Why are you doing that?" He asked her, confused.

"Because, it'll make it easier." Pepper simply responded, not really telling him much at all. She didn't really want to be bothered when she was trying to sort things out, and she felt that when she sorted things out, it was as if she was sorting out the problems in her life. She separated it into two piles, one for her, one for him. She tapped one of the piles.

"This one is yours, Tony."

He gaped, "THAT many papers!? You're out of your mind!" He shook his head in disbelief.

Pepper shook her own head, laughing a little.

"Well, what did you expect after missing a full day of work? Besides, I have just as many papers as you do. I'd say you're out of your mind for taking that day off…" She gave him a suspicious look again.

"Hey, you said you didn't want to know about how I did it, so now I won't tell you." He smugly smiled, crossing his arms. Pepper shoved the papers into his chest, with a little devious gleam in her eyes.

"Get to work, Mr. Stark."

Tony rolled his eyes, "Yes, Ms. Potts."

A few hours passed with the paperwork, and Tony felt his eyes getting bleary once again. His head was hurting quite a bit as well, but he knew it wasn't because of that 'sickness'. Pepper seemed completely unfazed and because she had convinced Tony that using her Blackberry was part of her job, she seemed more content with the situation. The permission to use her laptop was granted back to her as well; Tony figured that if she used the laptop, she'd work twice as fast, so that he could work on more of that "partial relationship" she so cunningly agreed to the night before.

He wasn't going to let Pepper off that easy.

Tony yawned loudly and stretched his arms out.

"Pepper, it seriously seems like these paper are multiplying." He groaned, rubbing his eyes.

Without looking up from her work, Pepper replied, "Just keep working at them. The more you finish, the less you have."

Tony frowned at the oblivious and opened his mouth to object when his phone suddenly went off. He made a face and pulled it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Tony…"

"Oh, hey Platypus!" Tony grinned and was thankful to Rhodey for getting him out of working even for a few minutes. Pepper's head shot up from her work in curiosity, but she quickly dipped it back down, to seem focused on her work.

"We gotta talk…"

"Oh…uh, listen…Pepper's kind of holding me hostage, so can you…?" He didn't get to finish his little "explanation" when Pepper yanked his cell phone out of his hands, fuming.

"What? What?! Tony, are you still there?" Rhodey impatiently asked.

"Mr. Stark is unavailable right now, Colonel Rhodes. If you would like to speak to him, please call or visit him personally after he is done with his work." Pepper kept a strong glare on Tony while speaking in her most professional, ice-cold tone. Tony winced at this, and he could tell that Rhodey probably was, too.

"Listen, Pepper. It's urgent. I really need to speak to Tony." Rhodey insisted, sighing on the other end of the line. Pepper's lips tightened.

"Well, tell him later, good bye." She swiftly snapped the phone shut. Tony shook his head.

"Pepper! What if it was something really important?" He complained. His PA made a face and glared at him.

"Well, if it's really important, he'd tell you personally." She replied curtly. Tony groaned again and collapsed back down in front of the papers. Pepper smiled only briefly, before returning to the hard, business expressions that she was so well known for.

"Just a few more to sign…" She tried consoling him. Tony raised a sarcastic eyebrow and held up handfuls of papers.

"Yea, just a few more to sign." He mockingly agreed, throwing his pen off somewhere.

"Well, not all those papers require just signing…"

Pepper didn't even get to finish her sentence, before she was interrupted by another loud, obnoxious groan. Another small smile flittered across her lips. She **was **his PA because he couldn't handle all this work by himself. He probably would've jumped out a window if she wasn't there, and she prided herself with this fact.

"You can talk to Rhodey later. Now, papers." She handed him the pen he had thrown to the ground in frustration, and he sighed, giving Pepper a half smile.

"Thanks for the motivation."

"No problem, Mr. Stark." She clicked her pen again and started scribbling furiously. Her boss glanced over at her work in disbelief.

"See? You're almost done with your pile!"

"Well, that's because I'm not complaining every five seconds."

Tony opened his mouth to argue back, when the doorbell suddenly rang. He raised an eyebrow.

"Now, I wonder who that could be…" He charged up the staircase, leaving Pepper behind willingly. She threw her hands up into the air in exasperation and buried her head in sheets of paper. Tony swung the door open expecting Rhodey, but he was greatly surprised to see the CEO of Hammer Industries standing there with his own assistant right behind him. Before Tony could even speak a word, Justin began speaking non-stop.

"Hey, Tony. Heard that you were sick. Hope it isn't that flu that's going around…nasty little thing. Of course, I came up with an antibiotic for it in our labs, so I came here to give you some…" He thrust the medicine into Tony's hands and kept blabbing.

"I heard that your stocks were falling, too and because I felt kind of obligated to do so, I bought up a few shares and started helping you out; I'm a great friend, right? So anyways, I needed to talk to your assistant about those stocks because you still seem pretty sick right now, so I'll just slide past you, and…is she downstairs? Probably…" Justin swept past Tony all too easily and began quickly making his way down the stairs. Tony glared at him with annoyance, glanced back at Justin's assistant who seemed pretty dazed herself, and then ran down the stairs after the other CEO. The one thing that ran in the Hammer line was their quick speaking abilities.

When Tony was younger, his father knew the Hammers as business partners. They once made up the Stark & Hammer Industries. His father and Justin's father used to be really close friends in business school, so they ended up working with one another in the same industry, technology. Tony didn't want to be rude, but the truth was that Tony's father was actually more intelligent than Hammer's…at least by a little in Tony's mind. Tony's father wasn't the one to point this out to the Hammers though; the media was to blame. They had given the Stark family the credit for creating the new specialized weaponry for the Second World War, while in actuality, Hammer and Stark had sort of collaborated on the project together. Tony's father had tried to deny the claims and give the Hammers their deserved credit, but nobody would listen, and it started a line of resentment towards one another.

Tony and Justin had actually been pretty good friends until that incident. They were teenagers, their fathers were friends, so it naturally kind of fit into place. They would laugh together, flip up skirts, and create things like timed ink bombs in the teachers' desk… People used to joke that they would become just like their fathers, best friends and business partners…needless to say, the situation had become the complete opposite of such. Justin had blamed Tony and his family for the disgrace of the Hammers and vowed to get back at the Starks through true ingenuity.

That was one friend Tony was actually a little upset that he had lost. Nowadays, Justin was just plain annoying though, not only to Tony, but to Pepper as well. He did find a bit of an…interest in her…and Tony didn't like it one bit.

Downstairs, Pepper's head shot up from her work, as she heard two sets of loud footsteps coming. She placed the pen she had behind her ear and stood up, craning her neck to see who it was. Justin burst through the glass doors and gave a bit of a "ta-da" motion.

"Hello, Ms. Potts. Still doing paperwork, eh?" He pointed out the piles of papers on the tabletop. She blinked a few times in surprise, unable to respond.

"Looking as sharp and as lovely as usual." He flashed a smile, took up her hand and kissed it lightly as a gentleman would. Pepper pulled back her hand a little quickly after he let go, and she silently rubbed the top of her hand with hand sanitizer.

"Any who…" His eyes skimmed the seemingly unimportant papers, as Tony nearly fell into his workshop.

"Have you two had any lunch yet?" Justin leaned on the table, a suave grin on his face. Tony fumed silently from behind and coughed loudly and prominently. Justin paid no notice to this and waited politely for Pepper's response. Pepper inconspicuously hid the hand sanitizer in her nearby purse and clasped her hands in front of her.

"Actually we have, we went to…" There was a sudden, slight grumble from her stomach, and she reddened significantly, hiding away, as she crouched down on her seat. Justin shook his head.

"Now, now, Ms. Potts. Lying doesn't take anybody anywhere." He grinned. Tony rolled his eyes from behind. _As if you'd know… _

"Besides, it's a work-related lunch. Because Tony was sick, you obviously had to cancel our meetings, so I'm rescheduling them today." Justin gave a motion of the head to his own assistant that stumbled down the stairs.

"Well, thanks for consulting with us." Tony sarcastically called out from behind in the raspiest, most sick-sounding voice he could muster without bursting out in irritation.

"Oh, don't be like that." Justin faked a whimper, "It's not like you guys are doing anything important." He waved a hand. Pepper glanced distastefully at Justin before sighing.

"Well, I suppose we could…"

Justin promptly cut her off, "Great then! My driver's up front." He paraded back up the stairs, and Pepper let out another huge breath. She and Tony shared glances of distaste, as they followed him up the stairs with the assistant.

"Are we really gonna do this?" Tony whispered aside to Pepper. She chewed her lower lip.

"I don't think we can really back out of it now…"

"Just play it cool." He flashed a grin.

Pepper rolled her eyes, "Why are you telling me that?"

Justin raised an eyebrow at the whispering two and cleared his throat a bit.

"Uh, let's not get all secretive here. We have lots to do!" He opened the front door and slid into the back of his luxurious car. His assistant quickly followed, and Pepper had to feel a bit of sympathy for her. Justin was like a double-Tony. He did absolutely no work, relaxed all day, and she could only imagine what kinds of things the assistant had to take care of.

Tony made a face, too.

"Wow, I feel sorry for that assistant."

"Sorry enough to sign her on to your company to replace me?" Pepper jokingly asked him.

"Heh, not that sorry." He gave another short smile, before being wildly motioned impatiently to by Justin. Tony pursed his lips and reluctantly took a seat in the back with Pepper alongside the other two. _He always seems to have newer and "better" cars to try to show me up…_ He thought about it in a bit of an annoyance. Pepper noticed his sour expressions, and she smiled unconsciously, knowing what he was thinking about.

"Drink?" Justin popped open a lighted drink cooler. Pepper shook her head in polite refusal, while Tony reached over her and grabbed a Coke. She unconsciously blushed, and Justin was the one to notice this. He raised an eyebrow with a questioning look appearing.

"So…" He dragged out the word almost obnoxiously, "What's up?"

"Uh…nothing." Tony suspiciously answered. _What's he getting at?_

"Are you sure? Nothing?"

"Pretty much…" Pepper added, tapping at her Blackberry.

"Oh, I highly doubt that. The life of Mr. Anthony Stark, _**boring**_?" Justin replied in mock-disbelief. Tony couldn't really tell if it was supposed to be playful or actually rude, but he was going with the latter.

A few things annoyed him about that statement. One of them was the use of his full first name, Anthony. He hated that. Only his family, with the exception of Pepper, who could very well be a part of the family if he played his cards right, was allowed to say his full name.

Another thing was the childish tone. It was sarcastic, rude, and overall annoying…which Pepper usually accused him of doing as well, but he refused to believe he sounded anything like Justin.

Tony, unable to say much to Justin without bursting into rage or punching him in the face, tried to speak through his gritted teeth.

"Well, you're going to have to believe it." The tone came off a little harshly, but Mr. Hammer didn't pick up on it.

"Really? So then, what were those explosions all about yesterday?" Justin lifted his chin trying to assert his authority over the conversation. Tony and Pepper shared glances for a split-second.

"What are you talking about?" Pepper questioned innocently. Her boss had to hand to her; she did a hell of a job at lying… He began to wonder how many times she had lied to **him**. The only thing that signaled that she was lying was a slight twitch of her right forefinger, but Tony was pretty sure Justin wouldn't be able to notice.

"Everybody was buzzing about it this morning. I'm surprised nobody asked you guys about it today." He waved a non-caring hand and sipped more of his bourbon. Pepper felt an anxious look rise onto her face.

"We still don't know what you're talking about." Tony stiffly pointed out.

"Oh, of course you do, Mr. Iron Man! Nice fireworks display. You looked nice up in the sky, Ms. Potts." He swished his drink around, watching their reactions carefully. Tony blinked a few times in disbelief and shook his head a little. He knew it was true, but he didn't want to give Justin the joy of seeing his shock.

Pepper, on the other hand, closed her eyes completely, took a deep breath in, and exhaled. She gave Tony a look, before focusing back on her Blackberry which she was beginning to find much more interesting than the rest of what was going on. Her phone suddenly began rumbling, and she held up a finger to Justin who was about to speak again.

"Hello?"

"Pepper, it's Rhodey. I really, **really **need to speak to Tony right now."

"Why didn't you call him on his cell phone?"

"It's not on or something."

"Typical." Her eyes shifted momentarily to Tony, and he immediately knew it was something bad about him.

"What is it? I'll tell him later…busy right now."

"It's about the fireworks…"

"Good bye." Pepper clicked the call off and shut off her phone, an action rarely done unless she was very annoyed…which she was. Tony, who had been sitting relatively close to her, had heard the whole conversation. He rubbed the sides of his head, all at once frustrated, embarrassed, and annoyed. He opened his mouth to say something inconspicuous to Pepper, when Justin cut in.

"Are you sure you guys don't want a drink?"

**AN: Anyways, today's the day Iron Man 2 is released in the US!!! :D I didn't get to see it yet, so a question I have for readers/viewers is, HOW WAS IT? SHOULD I GO WATCH IT? IS THERE MORE PEPPERONI GOODNESS? :D I really REALLY wanted to see it today, but I couldn't!! :( So sad... Anyways, enjoy this new chapter THE DAY OF THE RELEASE! :D Justin Hammer's a character in Iron Man 2, but I don't really know if I got his personality/background down...I just figured everybody's jealous of Tony. ;) lol. SEE YA'LL NEXT TIME! 3**


	10. Shifting

**HEY SUP YOU GUYS? GUESS WHO HASN'T UPDATED IN LITERALLY ABOUT A YEAR? :D Read the AN at the bottom for apologies and such. :P**

**I DO NOT OWN/HAVE CREATED THE CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY. THEY ALL ARE (C) OF MARVEL. STORY IS (C) BY ME THOUGH...YEAH...**

The rest of the ride to the café was reserved and quite frankly awkward. From the fireworks conversation, Justin went on to blabbering about the Fourth of July, America, American interests and economy, and so on and so forth, until all Tony could hear was the constant, monotonous tone of Justin's supposed voice. All he could think about was how Pepper was feeling.

He saw the all too familiar worry creases lining her eyes. Part of him felt completely responsible for what had happened. He was fine with being noticed by people…being the center-stage object, however, it was something Pepper was never going to be used to and something she greatly hated.

He was worried at how she was going to take the event. Not talk to him? Work at home? Not come to work at all? She didn't even give a sideways glance at Tony. She was strangely silent, and Tony was all too angry at Justin for completely screwing things around.

He had gotten so close…so close to winning her heart… His clenched fists trembled unnoticeably on his lap.

Although Pepper seemed completely relaxed and merely silent, thousands upon thousands of thoughts racked her system. If Justin knew, the whole of Malibu probably knew as well...not even, perhaps a lot of the world knew! What would people at work say? What would the press say? What was she going to say? What was she supposed to do? Suddenly, she felt an awkward pause. She glanced up at Justin who seemed to be waiting for a response.

"Oh, hm? I'm sorry. Could you repeat that?" Pepper blinked herself out of her thoughts.

"I was just asking if you think that opening up more shares in different departments would be a good idea."

"D-different departments?" Pepper asked him blankly. She hadn't heard a thing…well, not that she particularly cared…

"Were you paying attention, Ms. Potts?" Justin gave her a little pout and a shake of the head. Pepper twitched.

"I wouldn't have guessed that your attention span was that short." He sighed, leaning back in his chair. Pepper caught a glimpse of Tony's right fist trembling slightly.

"Well, I wouldn't have guessed that your manners would be so immature." Tony responded with a level tone.

"Then, were you paying attention, Mr. Stark?"

"No, but I have my own reasons for **not **paying attention, and we're not really interested in whatever you have to propose, Hammer." He smirked when he saw Justin flinch at this.

"W-well, okay then." He fiddled with his drink and kept his eyes down. Pepper's eyes flashed at Tony, but she had to cover her smile after seeing his silly grin.

"Now that we have that straightened out, do we really need to attend these meetings?" Tony asked Pepper. Justin butted in anyways.

"That was just a preliminary topic, Anthony. We've got much more to talk about. Other companies are joining us."

"And you planned this without any permission from the two of us?" Pepper stiffly pointed out.

"I thought I was doing you both a favor…"

"I suppose you thought wrong." Tony cut him off, fuming slightly after hearing his full name pronounced earlier. Justin gave a little worried look, as they ganged up on him.

"Calm down, calm down!" Justin held his hands up, and Pepper noted his assistant shifting uncomfortably, when she saw Tony's apparent annoyance. Pepper pulled lightly on the sleeve of his suit, and he glanced at her. She shook her head invisibly, wanting to talk more about the situation with him in solitude.

Out loud, she merely told him, "Turn on your phone."

"Hm? Oh…" Tony fished around in his pocket. Pepper must've unknowingly shut it off when she had given it back to him a little earlier. He turned it on and was a little shocked to see exactly 10,000 voicemails and 7,690 text messages. He made a face, and Pepper leaned over only to become just as shocked. Tony quickly deleted them all, for once, not getting a complaint from Pepper.

All of them were probably useless anyways.

The limo stopped slowly, and Justin burst out of the car as flamboyantly as he possibly could. It didn't seem that the other CEOs were very interested in him anyhow. They all peered around him as Tony and Pepper tried to inconspicuously get out of the car. Reporters that lined the streets tried grabbing a word, but Tony pushed past them and quickly jogged into the café with Pepper right beside him.

"Hi there. Yes, of course. No, thank you. Oh, right this way? Got it." He took Pepper's hand in his own and pulled her in different directions. Cameras were flashing everywhere, and Pepper was beginning to feel dizzier and dizzier.

"Hang in there, Pepper. We're almost past these creeps…" Tony muttered under his breath amongst a slew of other curses that she tried to ignore.

"Mr. Stark, one second please!"

"Are the rumors true!"

"Sir, please!"

"Ms. Potts, tell us more about the scandal!"

_Scandal…?_ Pepper bitterly mulled over the word. What an amusing choice of words… At best, she would probably state their situation as a complete train-wreck. She saw Tony's annoyed look as well, knowing better to keep her thoughts to herself.

"You'd think they'd have better news to scope out than this." Tony grumbled, squeezing into a small meeting room in the café reserved for the CEOs. Pepper slipped in quickly, just missing the hand of a reporter. There were more and more flashes, and Pepper ducked behind Tony a bit, as he lifted his hand to keep them from getting good shots. As soon as all of the CEOs rushed in, Tony leapt up and slammed the door shut, locking it quickly. _Of all the times to be camera-shy and claustrophobic…_ All of the eyes in the room were burning into himself and Pepper, and he felt a little antsy once again.

Pepper cleared her throat a little, as she sat down, trying to calm her dry throat. She gave a strained smile and placed her hands in her lap, as she took a seat. Tony took the seat next to her and stretched back a bit, hands behind his head.

Everyone blinked.

"So…shall we start the meeting?" Tony asked the silent room. It seemed more of a statement when nobody responded. He gave a bit of a look to Justin who immediately took off in his obviously very well planned out spiel. Tony flipped out his phone that he had turned on and texted Pepper.

"_Are you gonna be alright?"_

Pepper saw the words on her phone as it rumbled in her lap, and she gave Tony a little kick in the shin. A little frown from her and a returned pout from him. She rolled her eyes and quietly took out her own phone to make Tony stop making those ridiculous puppy-eyes…

"I'm fine."

Tony gave her a look. She raised an eyebrow.

"_Uh, no you're not."_

"Yes I am, now pay attention."

"_I'm not gonna pay attention until you're fine."_

"Oh please. Can this wait until later?"

"_No…"_

Pepper gave him another hard glare, and there's was a loud clearing of the throat from the other end of the meeting table.

"Mr. Stark?" Someone asked him. Tony glanced up and scratched the back of his neck.

"Hm? Oh…yes, about that technology…" He slid his phone back into his pocket and began focusing on what he had been unconsciously listening to everyone else talk. Pepper gave him an impressed glance. He was pretty good at hiding up his lack of attention. She was beginning to question his attention span for all those times that she had snapped at him for…

"Can you write that down, Pepper?" Tony whispered to her, sliding a pen over. She bit her lower lip and nodded, quickly writing down whatever words she had randomly heard. Tony smiled faintly at her attempts and turned back to the bores that sat all around him. He could still hear the shuffling of feet from the outside trying to get inside.

The meeting wore on, but Pepper felt like nothing was getting done. Everyone kept either staring at them or shooting looks at the door. Despite that, she also felt exhausted; most probably from the stress. She stretched her muscles a little while still trying to look professional. Every once in a while somebody would pull the conversation back to a more work-oriented topic, yet it never did any good. They always ended trailing off again, or just losing focus.

A few people interrupted the meeting for a second to hand out drinks to everyone whilst apologizing for the commotion earlier; assuring them that it had stopped. Tony raised an eyebrow and gave Pepper a quick side-glance. She rolled her eyes in response and mouthed "I'm fine." once again. He shook his head and pointed outside insistently. Pepper glared but followed him outside, feeling everyone's eyes peer over.

"What?" She huffed, crossing her arms.

"You know what." He replied, annoyed.

"Well, it depends. What part of this _**wonderful**_ day do you want to talk about?" She seethed. Tony's eyes narrowed in offense.

"Whatever part annoys you the most."

"Everything is annoying me the most! People seeing my face in the sky, Justin's little annoying remarks, paparazzi, this stupid meeting, and you!" Pepper fumed. She had never felt so angry, and she was surprised at herself. Just seconds ago she was merely mildly annoyed and self-conscious. It had bubbled into rage all too quickly, and Pepper was immediately regretful as soon as the words had come out of her mouth.

Tony seemed to be staring at the floor, and Pepper reached out to him, but he glanced up quickly and walked towards the exit.

"Wh-where are you going?" She nearly tripped over her own two feet, as she stumbled after her boss.

"I should probably leave. Nothing's getting done by staying here."

Pepper's jaw dropped, "And leave all those people inside wondering what happened?"

Tony turned to face Pepper slightly and gave a bit of a shrug.

"Since when have I ever cared?" He continued to walk, and Pepper pulled her hair back with her right hand, trying to follow him. Her boss turned around sharply and looked at her with his captivating eyes that Pepper avoided.

"Stay there and finish the meeting up. Work seems to de-stress you. I have some things to take care of myself anyways. Today's Saturday, so you know what to do. Don't forget my dry cleaning."

Pepper blinked, not knowing what to say. She opened her mouth to say something, feeling the breaking of his sanity. He flipped open his sunglasses, hiding his expressions, and went out the door too quickly though. He called Happy over, and through the glass, she could see Happy trying to see her. Tony slipped into the car and sat on the further end. She saw Happy jump at Tony's apparent bark to start driving, and they sped off.

Pepper trembled all over with the realization washing over her that she had just cracked Tony's happy demeanor. The deep cut into his feelings burned true, and she dropped everything that she was carrying in her arms, stunned. Normally, she had known her boss to be a pretty hard-headed person, but how affected he was by one comment she made really threw her for a spin.

She never saw him as a thoughtful person. He was careless, quick to answer, and lived in the moment.

But this wasn't a single moment that was going to pass over.

That one look in his dark, mysterious eyes was something she'd never seen before. His tone was sharp, curt, and dry. His movements were rigid and robotic.

Pepper grabbed her Blackberry and sent a quick text to Rhodey, "Major trouble. I really fucked up. Need help. Come to Donny's café. (Yes, I cursed, get over it.)."

"Is it alright that I'm agreeing that you fucked up?" Rhodey tiredly rubbed his eyes.

Pepper's tightened lips trembled, "Yes, but I didn't need confirmation on that fact. I need help."

Rhodey clapped his hands together in satisfaction.

"Finally! The great PA, Pepper falls to her knees in great need of assistance from an all-knowing military colonel!" He boomed in a loud, comical voice. Pepper's hard-stone expressions seemed to tell him that he wasn't being very funny though. He uncomfortably tried to turn the conversation back towards helping the PA out.

"Uh, sorry about that. Any who, I think Tony'll be fine. I've seen him recover pretty quickly from blows like that…"

"No! You don't understand! That look on his face was **not **normal. I've been around him for a pretty long time, too you know." She reminded Rhodey, impatiently.

"Whoa, whoa. Calm down a little. You're all uptight and everything." The colonel gingerly tried to keep Pepper's temper down. Her breathing slowed, and she slouched back in her seat.

"We don't even know how Tony'll react. Why do you keep expecting the worst?" Rhodey asked her. She glanced over at him, realizing his point.

"I-I don't know…" Her head dropped, and she closed her eyes, trying to rethink everything all over again.

"You might not have realized it, Pepper, but Tony really cares about you."

Her eyes shot up quickly.

"All he does is worry about you, call you, text you, bother you, poke fun at you… That's what all guys do for attention."

Pepper slowly lifted her head in final understanding. Her sparkling blue eyes shifted from side to side, beginning to piece it all together.

"He probably wants to see if you're gonna step up to the plate now. How far are **you** gonna go for him? I think…"

"I know what I'm going to do!" Pepper exclaimed suddenly. Rhodey jumped a little in his seat.

"Well…uh, that was quick…" He rubbed the back of his neck, as the young woman rose from her seat quickly.

"I have to go right now!" She announced, scooping up her things and rushing to the doorway.

"What? No thanks?" Rhodey yelled from his seat, arms outstretched. Pepper turned around and gave him a confused look.

"Why? Did you say something important?"

**AN: Alright, I give you guys the right to yell at me, not follow me, stop reading, and all that crap. =.=" I know; it's literally been a freaking year (plus a few months!) Wahh, but I have reasons for not updating! Studying, SAT prep, research, debate, violin, archery, theatre, etc. :P**

**It's the curse of being Asian, you guys...**

**I'm so, so, so, SOOOOO sorry for not updating for such a long time though! I suppose it's pointless to write this since most of you probably stopped reading this story. :P I really wanna try to wrap it up! C'mon Pepper, you gotta really reel Tony back! DON'T BE A WIMP. :D :D **

**It's not alright for me to abandon you guys like that though, and again, I'm terribly sorry. :C**

**This might be in vain, but will you guys still comment/leave a review? It could be a total flame about me being super lazy or something else, but I wanna hear from you guys again! It's okay if your interests have shifted, mine have been moving around constantly. :)**

**OKAY, THIS IS GETTING TOO LONG. BUH BYE, OVER AND OUT, PEACE, I'LL TRY TO UPDATE SOONER THAN A YEAR! 3 LOVE YOU ALL**


	11. An Idea

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN/HAVE CREATED TONY, PEPPER, JARVIS, AND STUFF. (C) MARVEL. I made up Pepper's sister though. :)**

There was minimal contact between the two. For the next few days, the relationship was completely work-oriented. It killed Pepper to see Tony almost totally emotionless. She had been planning something in secret during those days, but the rift between them made it hard to make any progress in anything. Tony was having a tough time keeping away from Pepper, as well. He had already told himself to give up being a love-sick puppy around his PA. Clearly, she wasn't interested in him, right? No matter how hard he tried to look at his situation from a different light, he came to the same conclusion. She had definitely made it clear that other day.

How could he have been so blind to it?

He spent his days and nights cooped up in his workshop, leaving the door locked. Pepper was really surprised when she found out that he had changed the passcode to the door. She tapped in the previous number over and over again, but it didn't work.

"Ms. Potts. I am sorry to inform you that Mr. Stark has changed the passcode." Jarvis told her.

"Well…then how am I supposed to give him these?" She waved the papers at Tony, trying to catch his attention through the glass door, but he pretended not to notice her. She huffed, upset and discouraged.

"He's acting like a massive, angst teenager." The fiery PA stiffly informed Jarvis.

"I am sorry, Ms. Potts. I agree with you wholly."

She cracked a smile at Jarvis, but she knew that she was at fault. Her eyes drifted back to her crouched over boss, and she noticed something wrapped around his head.

"J-Jarvis, what's that around his head?" She pressed her slender hands to the window and tried to squint harder.

"A bandage, Ms. Potts."

"A what?" She demanded immediately afterwards, snapping her head in Jarvis' direction.

"He has been injured on a previous mission in Yemen."

"Wh-what? But I was here the whole time! I-I never heard him leave the residence!" She impatiently began pounding on the glass; her fists made marks on the impeccable surface. All previous emotions of regret and guilt fleeted away, as she grew more and more concerned.

"Mr. Stark took great precautions to make sure you would be unaware of this fact. He even disabled my presence in the house for a short period of time, so I would not record his absence."

Pepper's jaw dropped, and she felt her temperature rising.

"I can't believe he would do something like that… He could've gotten killed! That looks like a serious wound! He's not even going to the hospital! You **know **how unsanitary he is about cleaning up! Ugh, he could get a serious virus or something! Let me in!" She jiggled the doorknob again, ranting off loudly.

Jarvis thought it best to keep quiet during this moment.

"Anthony Stark! Let me in here right now!" The hot-headed woman stomped her foot down on the floor, irritated. He couldn't hear her at all. All he, and Pepper for that matter, could hear was his incredibly obnoxious music blaring throughout the house. She screamed as loud as she could, but her voice still couldn't reach his dense skull. Pepper silently fumed, thinking about what to do.

"You're…not going to let me in, are you?" She asked Jarvis hopelessly.

"I'm afraid that Mr. Stark has directly ordered me not to do so."

Her eyes lit up in a sudden realization, "What if I'm just going in to talk about work?" She slyly prodded.

"Mr. Stark requests that all business-related topics be texted or emailed to him directly."

She pouted, "What about if I want to go in and give him something to eat?"

"Mr. Stark requests that any bodily needs or concerns be dismissed for he can 'take care of his grown-ass self'."

Pepper rolled her eyes; last attempt, "What if I want to go in and talk about something on an intrapersonal level?"

Jarvis was silent.

"Mr. Stark has not put in any response to that question. I am obliged to let you inside, so that you may ask him yourself what the answer to that should be."

"Thank you." Pepper replied, relieved that something finally worked. There was always a loophole to Tony's infamous plans. She was always the one who found them. The door clicked, and she quietly stepped into the workshop. He was hunched over and seemed unaware of her presence. Silently, the small woman closed the door behind her and snuck over behind her boss. Tony was so intent on whatever it was that he was working on…

"Holy mother-!" He toppled sideways. Tony had merely glanced over his shoulder to see if Pepper had finally left and was more than a little surprised to see her cute, curious face right over him.

"H-how'd you get in here?" He sputtered. She triumphantly smiled.

"You can't get away from your own PA, Tony. It's my job to keep tabs on you."

He didn't return the smile.

"Ms. Potts, I find it extremely intrusive of you to enter my workspace when uninvited. Really, I thought better of you." Tony seemed deathly serious, and Pepper felt her smile disappear as well.

"I…needed to talk to you." She partially confessed, dropping the suddenly not-so-important papers on his desk. Tony didn't seem convinced.

"Mm, about what?" He turned back to his work, not even giving a second glance. Pepper became hesitant. _Should I? Shouldn't I? Should I? Shouldn't I? …_

"Do you have time to…um…" Oh, this was going to end so badly. It sounded so much more convincing and simple in her mind. Her large, misty blue eyes dropped their gaze to the cluttered floor, and Tony's ears heard her pause. He shifted his eyes over to her, and she was quiet.

"What happened to your head?" She blurted, changing the subject completely. Her small hands flew to his head, and she began to take apart the crudely done bandage. Tony jumped back, half in pain, half in surprise.

"P-pepper, stop! I put disinfectant and everything on there!" He winced, trying to wave her hands away.

"No, just let me check!" She insisted.

They struggled for a bit, Pepper at first gaining, and then Tony pushing her back a few times.

"Can you just trust me for five seconds?" He yelped, although thoroughly annoyed…he kind of liked the course banter again.

"Hold still!" She demanded, trying to hold Tony's arms away from himself. Which wasn't going so splendidly.

"But why? There's no reason for you to check a perfectly fine bandage!"

"It's not fine if blood's seeping though!" Pepper's eyes darted back and forth, avoiding his looks. He finally gave up, dropping his hands to his sides, sighing.

"I never seem to win with you."

"Well, you're not a medical doctor…"

"Neither are you!"

Pepper's eyebrows scrunched downwards in a bit of a glare. She silently removed the bandage with little noises from Tony every once in a while. She made herself busy with pointless things, avoiding a direct conversation with him.

He managed to pin her though, "So, what were you beginning to say about me having time to…?"

"It wasn't really that impor…"

"Please, enlighten me." He smugly smirked. She blinked, unsure as to what to do all of a sudden.

"Do you…have time for a small outing?" She was definitely turning red. The unconfident woman tried to hide her embarrassment by looking at her phone, but Tony could all too easily tell.

"What do you mean by an 'outing', Ms. Potts?" He raised a dark eyebrow, putting his head in his hand.

"Well, my older sister is getting married this weekend, and I wanted to know if you'd be interested in…coming along. She…really wanted to meet you." Another exhale. She couldn't even breathe while she was speaking to him… How ridiculous.

"Congratulations to her. It sounds nice. It must be hard to find someone just perfect."

Ouch.

Pepper visibly twitched, and Tony gave her a shadow of a smile.

"I'm just kidding." He reassured her although he really wasn't, "I'd be honored to come to your older sister's wedding."

The corners of her lips turned up, unconsciously. He was being so uncharacteristically formal. It was nice, but it made Pepper's worry creases pop back. Tony spotted them and tried to calm Pepper down.

"So, when is it?" He inquired nonchalantly.

"Erm…this Sunday."

"Okay, well I don't think I have anything planned that day." He rubbed his forehead in thought.

"No, you don't. I checked." Pepper shook her phone a little to prove her point. He nodded, letting her sigh with relief. Things so far were going along according to plan. It **was** her sister, Victoria, who came up with the idea. She had telephoned her late at night a few days ago. Although she had a good idea of what to say, she had no idea how to tell him.

* * *

"Seen him on the news. Nice man."

"You should see him in real life." Pepper groaned from the other end.

"Mm, so he's annoying you…?"

"Well…no…" She sighed, cutting her sister off, "It's kind of the complete opposite. He's ignoring me."

"A boss ignoring his own personal assistant?"

Pepper could see her sister's perfect, thin eyebrows arched over her eyes, puzzled.

"Yes, that's the situation I'm in. You know how I already feel about him in…erm, certain ways…"

"You like him. Simple as that. He likes you. Even simpler! How does all this confusion get wound up in this, _chica_?"

Her sister always liked to use foreign words in sentences. She thought it gave it more spice.

"I just get super shy and nervous around him… I-I dunno…" Her long fingers brushed through her messy red hair, as she spoke.

"Oh…" Her voice trailed out the "oh", "_Je says_."

"It's '_je sais_'."

"Never mind. You've always been shy, Virginia."

She was the only one who used her true name as well. Tony hadn't even given her name a second glance the first day she came to work for him. He said it reminded him too much of a "Hannah Montana" name. Offensive, but understandable.

"I know. But it's even worse when I'm around him," she bit her lip, "and now look where it's gotten me!"

"It's tough finding the perfect time to confess _su amor_ to someone. It's alright! Your situation's no different. Hell, it took Sam three whole years!"

The sisters shared a good laugh.

"At least you two are finally getting married," Pepper smiled as she spoke, still giggling a bit, "I'm so happy for the both of you!"

"Mhm, so am I." She cracked a smile on the other side of the line as well.

"I'm so sorry I can't be there right now to support you and everything!" Pepper apologized, "I've been so caught up with everything over here. I should really come over and help you, mom, Aunt Clara…"

"No! Zip it! You don't need to worry about us. I'll be happy if you're able to make the reception!"

"Oh, don't worry! I'll definitely make it to that!"

"With _Ihr Chef_? …perhaps?" Victoria slyly suggested. Pepper was silent at this. She swallowed hard and sort of fidgeted with a stray piece of hair.

"Wow…you're more in love than I thought you were…" Her sister replied in awe.

"Stop! That's not making me feel any better!" The younger woman responded, half-teasing, half-serious.

"Just go up to him and be like, 'Hey, sexy…'"

"Victoria!" Pepper gasped.

Her sister hooted with laughter, "I'm just kidding! Calm down!"

"You better be…" She grumbled.

"In all seriousness though, it should be really easy. You basically just say that I'm getting married, it's a special occasion, and I invited him." Victoria absent-mindedly picked at a hangnail, as she balanced the phone on her shoulder.

"Right…easy…"

"Easy-peesy lemon squeezy. That's what mom used to say!" She optimistically tried to ease her worrisome sister. Ever since she could remember, Pepper had always been uptight about everything. School work, sports, art, handwriting, clothes…literally anything. Love wasn't something she could map out or predict, and she thought that was the problem with her sister.

Too much thinking.

* * *

"If you have too much to do, that's fine. It was just a suggestion…" Pepper added quickly, trying to play it off.

"No, it sounds nice… What's your sister's name again?"

"Victoria."

"Oh yeah… Am I supposed to get her a present or something?" Tony tinkered with a little rocket on his desk.

"Well, I've already bought something. It should be good enough." Pepper nodded.

"So…we're technically going there together."

Silence.

"Um…I guess so." The unconfident woman agreed half-heartedly.

"Hm…that sounded a little hesitant, Ms. Potts."

"I didn't mean to make it sound like that!" She quickly defended herself.

"Yup, sure."

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"A little."

"…Thanks."

"No problem."

**AN: Hey, guys. :) Sorry for a short update after a month-ish. I'm trying so hard to update! D: But I'm failing so badly, lol. Hope this lightens the mood a bit. Tony and Pepper are goin' through some rough times, but we always know that them + partying = a good time. Right? :) Let's cross our fingers! Thanks so much for reading! I LOVE ALL OF YOU SO MUCH 3 You all mean SO much to me; you have no idea. :)**

**Don't forget to comment/review! IT'S MY FOOD. AND IT MAKES MY TUMMY HAPPY! :D (Doesn't that sound like it's from a kid's show or something? Anybody seen Yo Gabba Gabba? Yeah, it reminds me of that. :D) ESPECIALLY IF YOU'VE FAVORITED/ARE WATCHING ME! Yes, that means you, too! **

**Signin' out to go finish my AP homework and try to write a case for debate. ;) Bye!**


	12. The Wedding Part 1

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN/HAVE CREATED IRON MAN OR ANY AFFILIATED CHARACTERS. (C) MARVEL **

"I can't breathe in this. That's a problem." Tony struggled with the tight bow tie around his neck.

"You can breathe in an Iron Man suit, so you can breathe in that." Pepper concluded, brushing her hair with a small brush again.

"My suit is completely comfortable. This, however, makes me feel like a cardboard cut-out." He stiffly sat down, making exaggerated choking noises, pulling at his collar. Pepper glanced over her shoulder at her sulking boss and couldn't help but smile. He'd grown back into his lighter, happier self. Tony was still a little more cautious around her, but it was much better from the past Friday or so. She hoped that today would bring back the happy-go-lucky, slightly erratic Tony.

Pepper had made him wear one of his more expensive suits for the occasion. The more expensive ones, however, were also the more uncomfortable. Tony, in response, made Pepper wear another one of her stunning blue dresses. He was pleased to find that many others had bought her blue dresses with the same mindset as him. It was a fact that Pepper looked great in a blue dress. This one was a little shorter than the previous one she had worn, and it had a bit of a contemporary splash to it. Not too much that she would stand out, but just enough that it made her look radiant.

As he was being thoroughly enraptured by Pepper's dress, she leaned over and tried loosening the collar for him.

"Here…" The bow tie was abnormally tight, and she made a face.

"Hm, since when have you been able to tie such a tight bow?"

"I never have. I had Jarvis do it for me."

Pepper rolled her eyes and gently undid the tie, "Well, I'm here to help you with that."

"Much appreciated." He smiled widely. Pepper hesitated to respond, yet she managed to pull a smile across her glossed lips as well. She was anxious; her hands shook slightly, as she finished the tie and picked up her sister's wedding gift. Tony spotted her nervousness and had to resist the urge to just pull into a kiss. _Boundaries, _he reminded himself.

"Big day for the family, eh? No need to be nervous. It happens everyday."

The flustered woman opened up the car door, "Uh…yeah, you're right."

She was such a terrible liar. It was actually surprising that Tony hadn't caught on that there was an ulterior motive up her sleeve. Of course, that's just the way she liked him. Clueless, predictable, yet incredibly sweet.

"You two look much better today!" Happy cheerfully informed them. Tony stuck his tongue out in fake unhappiness. Pepper took a seat next to him, nodding her head to signal Happy's departure. Throughout the ride to the chapel, Pepper kept her hands busy. Whether it was fixing her hair, Tony's hair, the gift's bow, her dress hem… everything seemed to be out of place to the detail-oriented assistant.

As she was about to slick back Tony's hair a fifth time, he stopped her with his hand and a raised eyebrow.

"Are you feeling okay? Your hyper-speed nervousness has hit an all-time high. You don't need your Blackberry all the time, Pep."

Pepper, although very much against her will, had forced herself to leave her work-related items at home. She refused to answer a phone call, text message, email, or any other means of communication on her sister's special day. It would just be plain rude. Her abstinence from technology was tolling on her sanity, though.

"We're almost there. Don't stress yourself out about nothing." Happy added from the front.

"Exactly. What he said." Tony agreed. Pepper nodded understandingly and dropped her gaze to her folded hands in her lap. She looked so innocent and so vulnerable in her subdued state, that Tony nearly forgot how disoriented and haphazard she could be during work days.

Outside of her shell and office, he could see that she was still a quiet, awkward little girl trying to hold herself together. She needed someone to boost her confidence everyday. She needed someone to be her leader in decisions she was confused about. She needed a smile from someone to brighten her mood…

She needed a superhero, whether or not she wanted to admit it.

"So…who's your sister marrying?" Tony asked in the silence of the car ride.

"Um, Samuel Chastain."

"Ooh…sounds fancy."

"Ha, I'm sure." Pepper grinned.

"I have a picture of him on my…oh wait…" She paused, remembering her vow against electronics for the day.

"It's alright. I'll see this hotshot when we get there." He licked his lips in anticipation.

"He's not a hotshot." Pepper firmly pointed out.

"I'm kidding. I'm sure your sister chose a nice guy for herself." Tony leaned back in his seat and flipped his sunglasses over his eyes. Pepper lifted the sunglasses off of his face and gave him a warning look.

"No falling asleep."

"Okay, fine." He pouted slightly, straightening back up.

"We're here, Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts." Happy slowed the car to a stop. _Imagine if it were Mr. and Mrs…_

"Good. Hurry up; I have to go and meet up with my sister and everything." Pepper excitedly grabbed her present and nearly leapt out of the car. Tony chuckled.

"Are you a bridesmaid or something?" He questioned her, as he ran up next to her.

"Yes. I have to find out where they are right now. I haven't even been to any of the wedding rehearsals…"

"You've seen weddings before. It's pretty much the same thing."

She rolled her eyes and pushed the heavy chapel doors open…

* * *

"Oh my gosh, you look great!"

"I wish. You look _stupire_, Virginia!" Her sister gave her a warm hug. It had been ages since they'd last seen each other.

"Stop it," Pepper smiled, "You're a beautiful bride!"

"Yeah, well I expect to see you on the alter next." Victoria winked and gave her younger sister a kiss on the cheek. Pepper smiled nonetheless; her anxiety ebbing away, as she relaxed near her sister.

"I didn't need a specific bridesmaids dress, right?"

"No, no. The color of yours is _perfeccione_. As long as all the colors are the same, it doesn't matter to me." Victoria sat down on a chair in front of an elegant vanity. A shorter woman, some sort of makeup and hair designer, was sweeping her sister's face with a big, puffy brush.

"Oh, alright." Pepper took a seat next to her sister. She glanced behind herself, "Um, where's mom?"

"Hyperventilating."

The girls laughed simultaneously.

"And dad?"

"He's hyperventilating, too."

The designer placed the veil on her older sister's head and stepped back a bit, admiring the perfection of it all. Victoria smiled, as she stood up from the chair.

"What do you think? You think this'll knock Sam off his feet?"

"Ha, I bet you'll knock a lot of guys off their feet. Sam's lucky to get you." Pepper squeezed Victoria's hand and smiled back.

"Where's your boy toy?"

"Ahem, my **boss** is probably snooping around to find out where the food is."

Victoria grinned, "So is Sam. They're bound to meet up or something."

"Tony was talking some trash about your soon-to-be-husband. I hope he doesn't do anything too out of line." Pepper bit her lower lip thinking about what obscene things Tony could say to him.

"Ohnonsense, I'm sure he won't. All you have to worry about is your _petit_, devious plan." Her sister poked Pepper's right cheek.

"Right, right."

"Don't fret. I'll aim straight for you, I promise."

"I never was good at softball like you were."

* * *

"You'd think they'd at least have those little hotdog things or something right about now…" Tony grumbled a bit, as he walked around aimlessly in the chapel. He was busy trying to peek through some closed doors when he bumped into someone pretty roughly.

"Ooh, whoops. I'm sorry." He apologized, turning around.

"Oh, uh that's okay. I wasn't paying attention either." The young man wrung his hands.

_Nervous, pale, $2000 suit…yup, that's the lucky man of the hour._ Tony concluded inwardly that this was the Sam that Pepper was talking about. Not much of a real man…

"Are you Sam?"

"Um, yes. I…don't think I know who you are."

"Tony Stark. I'm the boyfri…er, boss of the bride's younger sister." Tony grinned, as Sam's eyes grew wide.

"Oh my god, **you're** Tony Stark?"

"Yep."

"Wow, pleased to meet you!" He stuck his hand out and shook Tony's hand pretty firmly. Tony made a bit of a face and pulled his hand away a little quickly afterwards.

"I-I'm sorry, I can't believe I didn't even recognize you! I'm just all jittery and everything." Sam nervously scratched the back of his neck.

"No, no, it's fine. Hey, I'd be super nervous on my wedding day, too."

"Oh, right. You're not married yet."

Tony froze up, "What was that supposed to mean?"

Sam instantly glanced in Tony's direction.

"I-I-I didn't mean it in a bad way at all! I'm so sorry! Oh…" He groaned, putting his face in his hands. Tony simmered down, feeling a little sympathetic.

"It's…" He sighed, "…fine."

"Thanks." Sam stood up a little straighter and tried smiling a bit.

"You're welcome." Tony shrugged.

"It's nice that Virginia brought someone along with her to this event. Victoria was really happy this morning."

"That's good. The least thing anybody wants right now is a cranky bride."

Sam chuckled, albeit a little cautiously, "Victoria's not usually that fussy, but when she is, it's pretty serious stuff."

"Heh, that's the same with Pepper."

"Who?"

Tony wasn't able to respond to Sam's question. Pepper had, almost invisibly, approached from behind.

"The wedding's going to be starting soon. You both need to get in your places." She briskly led Tony away from Sam. Sam became petrified with fear all over again and was shivering through the main hall.

"Aw, now look what you did to the poor guy, Pep!"

"He'll be fine. Husbands-to-be are always nervous." Pepper quickened her pace and tightened her grip on Tony's shoulder.

"You're still this jumpy, too, eh?" Tony tsked slightly.

"I have to introduce you to someone very important." Pepper explained, "He really wanted to meet you."

"He? Another guy obsessed with the awesomeness that is me?"

"Please, don't flatter yourself. He's not obsessed." She rolled her eyes. She dragged him down the sparkling hallway to another room. At the front of the doorway, she stopped abruptly, her shoulder to the wall. Pepper's eyes flashed up warningly at Tony, and he gave a confused look.

"Yes?"

"One word: behave."

"I can behave, Pep. Don't worry your pretty little nose."

"That…doesn't even make any sense…" Pepper shook her head with a bit of a blush. She touched her nose lightly with her other hand before pushing into the room. There were two older people sitting on a couch together, whispering to one another. Pepper cleared her throat, and the man stood up slowly with a wrinkly smile on his face. Tony froze for a second, realizing who it must've been. The man stepped over to him and stuck out his hand.

"Hello, Mr. Stark. I'm Mr. Potts."

"Hello…" Tony replied cautiously and with as much formality as possible. He could nearly feel Pepper's eyes drilling holes into their handshake. He gave the same firm handshake to Pepper's mother, and she seemed to give him an once-over.

Tony scooted over to Pepper and muttered, "Do they like me?"

"I can't tell." She replied through a strained smile.

"You're Virginia's boss, correct?" Mrs. Potts inquired. Tony nodded.

"She's a great personal assistant. Very tidy and on-track with everything. I can always rely on her." He gave Pepper a little praise, and the young woman felt a true smile rest upon her lips.

"She's always been that way…" Mr. Potts fondly took his daughter into his arms and gave her a strong hug. The mother joined, and for a split second, Tony felt an aching pain in his chest. Although his arc-reactor consumed it, his heart wrenched at the sight of the grown family. He wistfully thought of his own parents, as he stared on silently. Pepper noticed the hurt in his eyes, as she glanced back, and her eyebrows shot up in worry.

"E-excuse me, I have to go…" Tony politely excused himself, going out the door rather quickly.

"I'll follow him." Pepper told her parents, and she, too, was out of the room.

Tony was at the end of the hallway, at the dead end, his hand over his arc-reactor. Pepper's heels echoed her anxiety, as she put her hands on his shoulder.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked him, looking all over his face for any type of answer.

"It's nothing…" He muttered, "…your family just seems so happy… It's sort of sappy." Tony grinned the best he could, but he couldn't convince the PA that had been with him for years.

"It's…your parents, isn't it?"

He felt a pang of the remains of the cold loneliness that still haunted him to this day.

"…A little." He confessed.

Pepper wasn't sure what to do. She didn't want to give Tony the wrong message or to make him feel worse. Her plan had yet to go into action, but was she willing to make some modifications for this unexpected twist?

Pepper's lower lip trembled, and she stood up on her toes, as she gave him the tightest hug she could muster. His arc-reactor was warm against her chest. She squeezed her eyes tightly, focusing on that warmth and transferring all the love in her heart she had for him to that source.

"I'll always be here for you." She whispered, still hugging him.

"I know." His tone was assuring and calm, "I don't know what I do without you. I've always ran away from things that I don't want to be reminded of…but you help me make it through all of that. Everything."

"I wouldn't know what to do without you either. You keep me off the brink of insanity…you help me realize that there are no such things as mistakes; only things called surprises and changes."

The moment of confession the two shared kept all other noises away. They could only hear the beating of her heart, and the buzz of his artificial one. The sounds were contrasting; one that was purely organic and true, while the other was constructed and variable.

But there was no difference in the love that they had to offer. No difference at all.

**AN: Hey, what's up, you guys? :D Sorry for the crappy update. :P The wedding hasn't even started yet, but Tony seems like he's ready to cry, doesn't he? Don't be too upset though; he'll lighten up. Maybe for a dance with the amazingly talented Pepper? :) **

**Besides, Tony's met her parents already, so doesn't that qualify as the next step towards marriage? Eh? :D They seem to approve!**

**3 Love you all, thanks so much for reading! DON'T FORGET TO COMMENT/REVIEW! :D It's all the Potts have for a wedding cake! And they want a lot of it. ;)**


	13. The Wedding Part 2

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN/HAVE CREATED THESE CHARACTERS. (C) MARVEL**

"Well, she seems awkward."

"No, she seems more love-struck."

"As if! She's Virginia!"

Two young women quarreled in whispers at the front of the alter as Pepper approached.

"Girls, what's all this fighting about?" Pepper asked them in her very straight-forward, business-like tone of voice. The type she'd scold Tony with.

"Oh nothing, Virginia. You look marvelous." One girl, Tatiana, smiled cutely, changing the topic.

"I love your hair!" The other girl, Serena, commented as well. Both girls were supposedly good friends of her sister, Victoria. Pepper always doubted her sister's opinion in "good" anything though. From what Pepper could analyze, they just seemed like a pair of gossipy, little girls, much too immature for her bright, perky older sister. It wasn't that she didn't trust her sister's discern, but she always questioned the true inside of a person.

"I'm sure…" She muttered to herself, fixing her bouquet of rosy pink flowers.

"Have you seen Victoria yet? Oh my gosh, she looks…" Serena trailed off, with a superstar grin. That was another thing Pepper absolutely despised about Victoria's friends. They would ask questions, but they wouldn't give the recipient five seconds to even answer them. That definitely wasn't the type of attitude she wanted to have to deal with for the next few hours after having another intimate encounter with Tony.

To take her mind off the troublesome other bridesmaids, she glanced off into the sea of people taking their seats. Distant cousins, college friends, old grandparents…it was a giant mesh of memories and remembrances for Pepper. She spotted Tony, surprisingly, sitting still in his seat, looking at the church's stained glass windows. He seemed to be genuinely admiring the architecture of the building, and Pepper was pleased that he was abstaining from his cell phone, as well. Might as well have two martyrs, she thought, as she inwardly smiled.

An organ suddenly burst out throughout the steeple, and everyone quickly made it to their seats. Pepper felt her legs shake, as the familiar wedding tones filled the room. Sam, on the other side of the room, was shaking even harder than Pepper was. The petite woman craned her neck along with everyone else's to catch a glimpse of her departing sister. The doors creaked open slowly, and all the people in the room could see a proud father standing next to his angelic, glowing, oldest daughter. Her veil hid her expressions, but there was a sense of a great, boundless feel of absolute adoration and happiness that emanated from her older sister.

It almost made Pepper cry. Even before the whole ceremony had begun. To see her older sister reach the pinnacle of happiness that every girl dreamed of reaching. To reach the epitome of love and mutual bonding forever more. To fearlessly go into a locked relationship that would withstand countless problems.

_What was it that she lacked herself?_

Their father let go of the oldest daughter slowly, initiating the transition into a new life. The two sisters locked eyes for a split second, and Pepper smiled, as her sister gave her a quick wink. On the side, Sam stepped forward, controlling his trembling relatively well. There was no retrogressing, there was no hesitation.

_Why couldn't she be the same?_

Rice flew all over, and the smaller children of the ceremony ran around blowing bubbles outside. Victoria and Sam's hands were interlocked tightly, as they ran down the middle of the church.

"Maybe we should've ordered birds, too!" Victoria laughed with tears streaming down her face.

"No, this is perfect!" Sam laughed, as well.

Everyone crowded around the front of the church to wave the happy couple off. They jumped into a sleek, white limo with cameras and video tapes flashing. A few of the older women had created a small poster that stuck on the back window of the limo, saying "Just married!" and had attached a few cans on the back bumper. The anxiety that had built up in the church escaped through the open doorways, letting everyone breath with happiness.

Pepper happily waved her sister off, still waving even when they were far gone from sight. Serena and Tatiana squealed about the reception that they were clearly too excited for,

"Oh my god, I think that guy would be perfect to dance with, right?"

"Yeah! But his suit **so **doesn't go with your dress."

"Do you think so?"

Pepper felt her joy slightly dampen, and she faced the other girls with a pulsing headache that threatened to ruin the rest of the day for her.

"I'm surprised that you girls are so obsessed with dancing with some guy at **Victoria's **wedding…" Her voice impatiently attacked the two. Serena winced, and Tatiana pouted.

"Well, we totally have to plan this out because it's, like, really important." Tatiana twirled her hip-length, brown hair.

"Are you serious?" Pepper grew angrier in a flash. Her face became slightly flushed, and the girls backed away a little cautiously. Pepper was about to yell some truly nasty things, that she regretted even thinking on her sister's wedding day, but she felt a hand rest on her shoulder, stopping her from doing so. The girls shared raised eyebrows, as Pepper realized Tony was there with his charisma all in check.

"Hi, ladies, I hope you don't mind me borrowing Pep for a second 'cause she seems like the popular girl with you two." He flashed a dizzying smile, and the girls shared giggles.

"Sure, no problem, Mr. Stark. Are you here **with** Virginia?" Serena slyly grinned.

"She politely invited me. You two could learn a lot about manners from her." He replied, this time with a bit of an edge to his tone. Pepper found herself smiling, even though she probably should've scolded Tony for being rude, she found it justified in this case. It felt so…different being able to walk away from the two girls with her boss' hand around her shoulder, leaving that kind of impression. Pepper didn't want to be a mean girl, just a fair one.

"Too much?" He whispered into her ear.

"No. They deserved it." She sighed, even venturing to rest her head on his shoulder. Tony blinked a few times in surprise.

"Hm, well, this is a new Pepper." He remarked cautiously, still unsure about Pepper's frequent mood swings about such touchy topics.

"It must be the euphoria of the wedding-time spirit." Pepper lied. She didn't want to have to lie, but she didn't feel safe telling him her feelings yet. Now wasn't the right time…then again, she had been saying that to herself for the past years she had worked with Tony. Who would've figured her to be a procrastinator?

"Ha, you make it sound like it's a holiday or something." The dark haired man whistled Christmas music to illustrate his point. Pepper smiled absentmindedly and hummed along with him.

"Are we going to the reception?"

"Yes, of course!"

"Even with those mean girls there?"

"Tony, you make it sound like I'm in high school again, and you have to fend off evil bullies." She joked, laughing lightly.

"I'm just being cautious."

"Well, thank you for caring, but I'll be fine. How awkward would it be for me to miss out on the reception of my own sister's wedding?"

"I guess it would be kind of awkward…" He admitted, lifting his hand in the air to call over Happy.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to." Pepper told Tony, not wanting to bind him into staying with her, despite the fact that it would probably ruin her whole night…

"No, that's rude. I may be sarcastic and charismatic, but I'm not obnoxious."

"Mhm…" Pepper grinned, rolling her eyes.

"I appreciate the sentiment."

"You always do."

Happy scanned the two of them with his eyes, "Feelin' a little less antsy, Ms. Potts?"

"Oh, you have no idea." She sighed with relief, enjoying the comfort of the familiar limousine.

"I feel better, too, Happy. Thanks for asking." Tony sarcastically added, shutting the door promptly.

"I was just about to ask you the same question!"

"I'm sure you were. You're lucky that I like you."

"Indeed, I am." Happy smiled at them through his rearview mirror, as he pushed on the gas pedal.

"I refuse to let you order another martini." Pepper firmly told Tony.

"But this is the pretty one, see!"

"Yes, it's very pretty, but you're just at the peak of drunkenness."

"It happens." Tony hiccupped.

"I thought you were going to behave yourself."

"Okay, okay, bringing the level of childishness down to a minimum." Her boss settled himself down, fixing his tie and hair. Pepper chewed her lower lip in worry. She hoped that Tony could hold out until her sister threw her bouquet out to a mass of girls that was already beginning to congregate. It was all part of a not-well-thought-out plan that she and her sister had conjured up that one night over the telephone.

"You better not get that suit dirty. It's the one Rhodey gave you for your birthday last year." Pepper eyed a precariously placed wine glass to the right of Tony.

"I got it." He mumbled, fumbling with his tie. Pepper shook her head, her nearly invisible freckles bunching up on her cheeks, as she giggled.

"Here, do you want help?"

"Yes, please." He smiled, leaning forward to let Pepper do the rest of the tying.

"Are you glad you came?"

"Of course I am!"

"Not because of the alcohol?" She gave him a look, and he snorted.

"I'm not like that, Pepper!"

"Mm…" She pulled the tie down and patted his lapels, "There you go."

"Do you want to go for a dance?" He questioned her out of the blue, as she fixed the rest of his suit. She pulled back a little abruptly and took a sip of her water to push the large lump in her throat down.

"A…dance?" She croaked.

"Yes, Ms. Potts. We've done one before." He reminded her, blocking off any rejections that she may have thought up.

"Well…don't you think we should wait?" Her eyes shot over to her sister who was happily talking with some of her other friends.

"Not really. There's nothing to wait for."

Pepper blinked at the tactlessness of the comment, but she saw a little humor in his eyes, as well, "I'm just saying…I mean, you've had quite a few drinks…" She stalled.

"No, I'm all better now, see?" He flashed a quick, cute smile, and she felt her face heat up.

"I don't know. I'd rather prefer to sit down, at least for this song." Pepper twisted her hands in her lap tightly.

"I like slow songs."

Pepper chewed her lower lip.

"Come on, it'll be fine. You have nothing to worry about." He glanced up at her with his adorably large, warm brown eyes, and all of a sudden, the young woman felt incredibly pressured.

"O-okay." She gave up, allowing him to take her hand and gently lead her to the dance floor. To be true to herself, she really did want to dance with him. Slow songs always made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. Maybe she didn't have to follow through with her whole catching-the-bouquet-then-looking-to-Tony-and-making-up-the-rest plan. It was a stupidly immature and predictable plan.

Tony was so earnest about it, too. He was just…irresistible, if that was a proper word to describe him. Sensual might be another, but she didn't really want to use that connotation.

Why not go with the thing that she liked?

Tony began to sway side to side, with a hand interlocked with one of her own, and another on her hip. Pepper was a little stiff with her movements, but Tony eased her out of her awkward shell, by venturing to twirl her around a few times. She didn't really like the unexpected move, but she let herself laugh, even as he dipped her down a bit.

Pepper felt a bit like Cinderella. Being whisked off to dance, seeing nothing but his smiling face, and hearing nothing but the delicate music. However, she knew who Tony was. She knew every little thing about him. She knew his social security number, she knew how much he had actually spent on that new Audi, she knew how many flings he had three years ago, she knew how many suits he had… Everything. A complete grasp on his often chaotic life. And now, for one of the few moments in her life, she felt like she didn't have to control her own life anymore. She felt like this brilliant, charming man was going to be there for her to keep her by his side. To keep her floating above the rest. It reminded her so much of their first dance together. Their first almost-kiss.

It was indescribable, to say the least.

Her eyes glanced down at his lips, which were coming closer…and closer…

Time was ticking to a stop. It was slowing. A moment completely imminent, in which there were only two options. Two options with absolutely contradicting, life-changing effects. Acceptance or fear. Confidence or rejection.

She moved her lips all the way to his, sealing the kiss tightly and knowingly. Tony wrapped his arms around her waist, continuing the kiss a little more deeply. Pepper put her arms around his neck and gently opened her mouth to intensify the kiss. Tony found her to taste a bit like spiced apples, most probably from her dessert, but totally, completely different from anyone he had ever kissed. She had a light taste, barely noticeable, but her actions were passionate. It pricked the back of his mind faintly, remembering their previous kiss, weeks earlier.

But this wasn't the same. He felt a sense of mutualism; a sense of accord.

It was a gentle breakaway, and they were silent, breathless, and unsure.

"I'm nervous." Pepper admitted quietly, feeling embarrassed.

"Don't be. Please, don't be nervous." His eyes pleaded along with his voice. Pepper bit her lower lip.

"I don't want this to be like last time. I don't want to feel insecure again." She didn't want to get this close, only to pull away. She didn't want to run away from something again. He was already a part of her that she couldn't deny.

"You don't have to be…" He caressed her right cheek with the tips of his fingers and felt her shiver at his touch, "I am always, always, going to be here. I can't leave you. It's impossible."

The two were so incredibly close, an electrifying bond kept them together, keeping Pepper from running away and keeping Tony from trying to brush the emotions off. It was a warm embrace. It was that feeling that happily rested inside both of their unsettled stomachs.

That feeling of control, that feeling of freedom of emotions.

"_You look beautiful tonight."_

That feeling that is so filling, that feeling that is so reassuring.

"_You look handsome tonight."_

That feeling of love that cannot be denied, that feeling that you never ever want to escape from.

"_I love you."_

That feeling when you realize there is absolutely nothing in the world that can imitate it, that feeling of romance.

"_I love you."_

**AN: Well you guys, to tell you the truth...this actually might be the end of the story. Pepper's gotten over her confusing, contradicting emotions and finally agreed to be with Tony for reals this time. (LOL, she's so unpredictable. Gosh, girlie, take your man and be PROUD) Tony's finally realized that his feelings are true and genuine and that they are reciprocated by the lovely Ms. Potts (please, Tony, did you really think she could resist? You're such a loveable dude) **

**So this is kinda the end.**

**Yeah. :/**

**Let me know if you guys want a little concluding "Epilogue" bit about maybe five years in the future?**

**D'aw, it almost seems crazy, insane, and stupid to try to ask you guys to review at this moment. D: Tell me your favorite moments, your least favorite moments, your feelings about the story's course in general, etc. It'll help me with further writing! ****I hope you all enjoyed the ride I gave you! Circumstantial a bit, but hey, that's how humans work. We never know a good thing when we get it, haha.**

**As always, I love all of you and your amazing reviews. Especially the few of you that continued to read, even when I went through my really unproductive phase. I love you all 3 Your reviews and everything mean so much to me. Shout out to all you silent readers, too.**

**It's been a great honor writing for you. Thanks again for reading; maybe I'll write little oneshots here and there for these adorable two.**

**3 (Twilightmask signs out)**


	14. Epilogue

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN/HAVE CREATED THE CHARACTERS (C) MARVEL**

_Five years later:_

"Robert, get down here! You're going to be late for school!" Pepper called up the staircase, fixing a piece of hair out of her face.

"Mommy…" A whine muffled itself.

Pepper sighed and ran up the stairs, "I'm gonna get you, you little sleepy-head!" She threatened in a playful tone.

There was a loud scream of laughter, as mother and son came tumbling down the staircase. The little boy laughed even harder, as Pepper's fingers tickled him to the kitchen.

"Good morning, Robert." Jarvis greeted the younger Stark.

"Morning, Jarvis!" Robert replied, recovering from his giggles.

"Eat your breakfast, and then you're going on the school bus." Pepper's fiery hair stuck out from all sorts of places on her head, as she dashed around, preparing a healthy breakfast for her adorable son.

"Are you sure the school bus won't eat me?"

Pepper's eyes twinkled at Robert's pure innocence, as she placed a full plate of food down in front of him, "Yes, dear. I promise that the school bus won't eat you. Besides, if it does…"

"Daddy'll come save you and destroy it!" Tony ran into the room after sneaking up from the basement. The little boy shrieked with happiness, and Pepper jumped nearly five feet in the air.

"Daddy!" Robert flung his tiny little arms around his father's neck, as he hoisted him up into his arms, "Yay, you're home! Did you destroy any bad guys yesterday?"

"Indeed I did. I have a cool helmet for you to look at when you get home, but you have to go on the school bus right now."

Robert's face turned pensive, before he broke out into a grin all too similar to his father's, "Okay, Daddy! I promise!"

Pepper and Tony shared matching smiles. The sigh of a school bus was heard faintly in the distance, and Robert's eyes widened.

"I gotta go, Mommy and Daddy." Robert said in an all-knowing, mature tone, as he wriggled out of his father's arms. He kissed them both on the cheek, "Bye bye!"

"Hurry up! Don't make Happy hold up the bus for you too long!" Pepper shouted after her energetic boy. Robert turned halfway and waved wildly to his parents, and they waved back, laughing.

Pepper glanced over at Tony, "You're not hurt from your mission, are you?"

"Nah, I'm fine. Sorry for scaring you just right now."

She touched his forehead gently, noticing a few scratches, "I'm okay." She smiled briefly.

"He's acting like I did on my first day of school. Not wanting to get up." The slightly bruised man sat down, letting Pepper fix his worn face.

"Mm, he's acting like I did on my first day of school, too. Afraid of a silly school bus."

Pepper glanced down at him, her eyes smiling, as Tony chuckled lightly, "At least you're not one of those moms that want to take a picture of their kid every five steps closer they get to the school bus."

"Oh, I was thinking about it."

"Ha, I think we have plenty of pictures of him. I still have those videos of every week of his first year." Tony felt a part of himself warm up to the memories.

"Yes, of course. Videos of me trying to get him to sleep, playing with him, letting him sit on my lap while working…"

"All videos of you being a great, super-mom." He flashed a smile at her.

"I feel old when you say that…" She giggled, "Besides, you're the superhero of the family." She poked his arc-reactor.

"Yeah, but I wasn't able to do any of that super parenting stuff."

"He looks up to you all the time though…"

"Okay, okay. We're both super-parents." Tony rolled his eyes sarcastically, pecking his wife on the cheek. Pepper's small nose scrunched up cutely, as she smiled.

"Atchoo!" Tony sneezed loudly.

Pepper jumped back, "Oh my gosh, that scared me more than your earlier surprise!" Her pulse's instant increase gradually dropped, as her husband sniffled.

"Hm, you're sick again, aren't you?" Pepper held his face in her hands, rubbing his hot, right cheek with her thumb.

"Not on purpose." He complained.

"Of course not." She sighed, going to the medicine cabinet.

"Again?" He groaned.

"Well, that's the first time I've heard you moan about taking medicine in a long time." Pepper stifled a laugh at his slumped figure. Tony huffed, as she came back with a familiar bottle of medicine.

"How long have you kept that? Ten years?"

"About." Pepper smiled teasingly, "Now open up."

"I don't wanna."

"Don't act like Robert. Even **he** obeys his mommy."

"You're not my mommy." Tony pouted.

"No, I'm not, but I'm your wife. Now here…" She held out a tablespoon of the dark purple liquid.

"It's grape again, isn't it?"

"Oh hush up."

The grown man swallowed the medicine as quickly as he could, making faces just as their son would.

"You're welcome." Pepper called over her shoulder, as she put the bottle away.

"Thank you…" Tony grumbled, flopping onto the large couch obediently, pulling a blanket way over his head. Pepper shook her head and walked over to the lump on the couch and pulled back the blanket, only able to see his large, brown eyes.

"At least you know exactly where to go when you're sick." She ran her fingers through his hair, and he stuck his tongue out at her. Pepper gave a pout and kissed him on the nose.

"Hey, I thought I was sick!"

"Yes well, I wanted to kiss you, so too bad."

"Jarvis, keep that on record, Pep's gone mentally insane." Tony called out to his AI.

"As you wish, Mr. Stark."

"Nope, I refute that command." Pepper told Jarvis.

"As you wish, Mrs. Stark."

"Jarvis!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark. I must comply with both of your orders, and it is impossible to cater to both at times. So, when such instances occur, my manners program states that I must obey the female's command."

Tony raised an eyebrow, "How'd you manage to reprogram him, Pepper?"

"It takes one to know one, huh?" She appeared at his side again, with a glass of orange juice and part of a leftover cheeseburger from last night's quick dinner.

"Ah, I love you." Tony's eyes lit up when he saw the cheeseburger, and he craned his neck up to kiss her on her jaw line. She giggled a little and watched him sit up to eat. He ate slowly and deliberately, as Pepper walked over, glancing at a picture frame.

"You know…" She began wistfully, "He has your hair. A fluffy, dark brown."

At first, Tony was a little confused, not knowing who his wife was talking about, but he saw her staring a picture of Robert, and all he could do was smile.

"Yeah, he has your eyes, too. A real, piercing blue."

She smiled absent-mindedly at the comment, returning back to the couch, taking a seat next to him.

She placed her head gently on his shoulder, "He's got your smile."

"He's got your long fingers."

"He's got your charisma."

"Oh, just wait 'till he's an adolescent. Major trouble up ahead." Tony grinned

"I'll consider myself warned."

"Strongly warned."

"Of course."

Tony wrapped his arms around her small frame, enjoying the comforting smell of her hair. Pepper snuggled into his chest, the warmth of the arc reactor just as enjoyable as the sincere hug. He pressed a kiss onto the crown of her head, and he smiled, as she shivered with laughter. She clung onto one of his arms, as they watched the sunlight pour across the ocean and into the living room, giving the home a good awakening. The ocean's waves glistened familiarly, welcoming the new day, and Pepper felt right at home.

So very much at home.

"I don't feel like working today. I'm sick." Tony announced, holding Pepper even tighter. He, too, enjoyed the view. He always enjoyed it a touch more when he was with her.

"Oh bah, you can go to work." She spoke into his chest.

"Can we be an hour late or something?"

"I don't think that's possible in our Age of Technology."

Tony came up with a quick excuse, "Jarvis is down."

"I'm not down on anything, sir." Jarvis responded.

"No, I meant you're not working."

"But I am working."

Tony slapped a hand to his face in annoyance, and Pepper laughed against him. She pulled his hand away from his face and held it to her cheek.

"You know, you gave yourself a red mark."

"Yeah, that actually really hurt."

"Way to go, Tony." She bonked him playfully on the head.

"Hey, let's not patronize the ill." Tony defended, tickling Pepper's sides. She shrieked and ran out of his lap. He shot after her, determined to make Pepper beg for mercy.

"I'm gonna get you!" He roared, barreling down the hallways, grinning to himself every time he saw a flash of bright orange hair. He silenced his footsteps slowing, turning on a sly, sneaky mode. Tony tip-toed down the hallway, carefully peeking into all the rooms. He was surprised to hear Pepper laugh from behind him, and he felt her jump onto his backside, her arms encircled around his neck.

The persistent young man took off into a sprint with his wife on his back, screaming. He had her held in a piggy-back style, as he raced through the Malibu house. The rooms were spinning with the speed, and Pepper felt as if she couldn't even recognize the house's layout.

By the time they reached the couch again, his shirt was ripped, her hair was a mess, and the rest of their semblance summed up to somewhat of a disheveled drunkard. They fell back onto the elegant cushions, gasping for air, but so incredibly high on the adrenaline. Their hands were tightly clasped together, for what reason, they weren't quite sure. But Pepper didn't let go. And neither did Tony.

"Typical morning, right, Pepper?" He pulled his other hand through his poofy hair.

"Yeah." She breathed, finding her way back into that secure niche in his strong arms, still gripping his hand.

"See, this is one of those moments where I look back upon my life, and I'm like, 'Damn, I made a good choice marrying this exquisite woman right here.'" Although Tony said it in an out-of-breath, charismatic tone, Pepper could feel the underlying strength of his emotions beneath the light-hearted statement.

"Mm, and this is one of those moments that I want to put on replay."

"Yeah, well you have me 24/7."

"365 days a year."

"Pretty much."

"366 days would be better."

"Impossible, but absolutely true." He nuzzled into her neck, and she lowered her eyes, smiling. That feeling of true love that never dissipates. That rush of excitement during one's first kiss. It wasn't lost yet. It was never going to be lost. Every time he looked into those emotional, blue eyes, he could never break away. Every time she felt the creases of his skin brush against her, she could never keep her body from trembling. They were set on holding onto their love forever.

They were going to hold onto it for another five years. Another ten. Twenty. Thirty, even. There wasn't a place to go that was any more interesting than being together on the same-old couch. There wasn't a film more interesting than watching his wife interact with his child. There wasn't a picture more delightful than one of him holding his son for the first time.

Nothing could ever compete with what had been created by the two of them.

And that is what true, undeniably powerful love is.

They had discovered it.

And they were going to keep it.

Happily.

Forever.

Ever.

After.

**AN:**

**Hey guys, so I'm not done yet! (Ha, you're all probably rolling your eyes, groaning about my long ANs! I just like talking to people... D:) Anyways, here's the epilogue as agreed upon by popular demand! (I don't think any of you said you opposed it... well, if you did, I'm sorry for 'torturing' you any longer, heh)**

**I'd like to personally send a shout-out "thank you" to XxThe Penny TreasurexX because she was an absolute darling the whole time. She started reading my story and commented on literally EVERYTHING. (or at least it seems like you did) So muchos gracias darlin'!**

**And of course, again, I thank all of you readers. :) Silent, non-silent, haters, lovers; we're all people. 3 And I think that's part of the reason why I write.**

**OH, AND WOW, YOU GUYS. THIS STORY HAS GOTTEN OVER 100 REVIEWS. MY LIFE IS COMPLETE. I LOVE YOU GUYS.**

**Okay, sorry for keeping you! Love you all tons and tons!**

**(and who knows? This might not be the last you see of me in the Iron Man realm of fanfiction...)**

**3 Peace, love, and tacos, dear readers. I adore every single one of you to the utmost! Keep reading! 3**

**~ Twilightmask**

**Story ended: January 25th 2011, 11:34 PM**

**Status: Complete**

**Feeling: Like she just tackled a mountain. Awesomeness.**


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